Northern Kentucky Family Law Blog

When Kentucky parents get divorced, they may still have to maintain a co-parenting relationship for years. The most important aspect of this relationship is making sure they put the best interests of the children first. This includes encouraging the child's relationship with the other parent regardless of any animosity between the exes.

Differences in parenting styles may be a factor in divorce. Therefore, parents should try to establish broad general rules that are consistent between households. They may need to use text and email for communicating about scheduling issues to prevent conflict that could arise during in-person or phone conversations. A large calendar in each home could help keep parents and children current regarding the visitation schedule.

There are two main sources of contention that may affect anyone getting a divorce in Kentucky. While child custody is often the biggest battle, this is followed by spousal support. Alimony-related matters can quickly become complex since this is usually one of the final issues worked out among divorcing couples. While each situation where alimony is involved might have some unique circumstances to consider, there are certain steps that could make the process less contentions during negotiation efforts.

Having unrealistic expectations is a common reason for objections to spousal support requests. One way to minimize this issue is for the recipient of alimony to know their financial situation well enough to determine what they need and what they can live without. Additionally, it can be helpful for the receiving spouse to know their earning potential. As for how long alimony lasts, the general rule of thumb is about 50 percent the length of the marriage; although, spousal maintenance may continue until retirement in some situations.

When Kentucky parents split up over money issues, those problems can follow them into the divorce and afterwards. They can even affect child support payments.

This was the case with one couple whose marriage ended in part because of different ideas about money and career goals. Within a couple of years, the father was struggling financially and trying to put together a bankruptcy payment plan that would allow him to keep his home. However, when he phoned his ex-wife to tell her the child support would be late, she gave him a deadline of one month.

You understood that deploying to dangerous areas and dealing with difficult situations was part of the deal when you took an oath to serve in the military, but you probably had no idea just how overwhelming a divorce would feel. Although in theory military divorces should not differ that significantly from civilian divorces, service members typically deal with unique concerns. 

Child custody can be a difficult topic for members of the armed forces. You and your spouse might not even live in your state of residence, and you must also consider upcoming moves and potential deployments.