Chapter 48, Chapter 48

(a) Persons applying for a marriage license may attend a premarital education course of at least four hours during the twelve months immediately preceding the date of the application for the license. (b) A premarital education course offers instruction involving marital issues wh…

(a) There is created a special revenue account within the State Treasury known as the Marriage Education Fund. The account shall be administered by the Secretary of the Department of Human Services. (b) Any balance in the account at the end of each fiscal year shall not revert to…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, an action to annul or affirm a marriage is not maintainable unless one of the parties is a resident of this state at the time the action is commenced. (b) Even if neither party is a resident of this state, an act…

(a) If the respondent to an action for annulling or affirming a marriage is a resident of this state, the petitioner has an option to bring the action in the county in which the parties last cohabited or in the county where the respondent resides. (b) If the respondent to an acti…

The following marriages are voidable and are void from the time they are so declared by a judgment order of nullity: (1) Marriages that are prohibited by law on account of either of the parties having a wife or husband of a prior marriage, when the prior marriage has not been ter…

If a marriage is supposed to be void, or voidable, or any doubt exists as to its validity, for any of the causes set forth in section 3-103, or for any other cause recognized in law, either party may, except as provided in section 3-105, institute an action for annulling or affir…

An action for annulling a marriage may not be instituted: (a) Where the cause is the natural or incurable impotency of body of either of the parties to enter the marriage state, by the party who had knowledge of such incapacity at the time of marriage; (b) Where the cause is frau…

In an action for annulment, the court may order all or any portion of the final relief provided for in sections 5-603 through 5-614 and all or any portion of the temporary relief provided for in part 5, article 5 of this chapter.

Upon the petition of either party, the court may revise or alter an order entered in an action for annulment or make further orders, concerning the following matters: (1) The support and maintenance of either spouse; (2) The interest of one spouse in the property of the other spo…

An action for separate maintenance may be brought in the family court of any county where an action for divorce between the parties could be brought. An action for separate maintenance may be brought whether or not a divorce is prayed for.

Separate maintenance may be ordered: (1) If the party seeking separate maintenance has grounds for divorce; or (2) If the party from whom separate maintenance is sought, without good and sufficient cause: (A) Has failed to provide suitable support for the other spouse; or (B) Has…

(a) In an action for separate maintenance, the court may order all or any portion of the temporary or final relief that the court may order in an action for divorce, other than a divorce. (b) During the pendency of the action, the court has the same powers to make temporary order…

Upon the petition of either party, the court may revise or alter an order entered in an action for separate maintenance, or may make further orders, concerning the following matters: (1) The support and maintenance of either spouse; (2) The interest of one spouse in the property …

The Legislature finds that parties to family law actions often have particular needs and interests that may not be addressed through traditional litigation. The Legislature also finds that in the area of family law there may be an alternative approach to dispute resolution which …

A divorce ordered in this state is an absolute divorce.

(a) Collaborative law is a procedure in which parties who are involved in family law matters and the involved attorneys agree in writing to use their best efforts and make a good-faith attempt to resolve their disputes arising from family law matters on an agreed basis without re…

(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that it has the authority to establish, by general law, the jurisdiction of circuit courts and family courts over domestic relations matters. (b) The circuit courts and family courts of this state, by act of the Legislature, are veste…

(a) In an action for divorce, it is immaterial where the marriage was celebrated, where the parties were domiciled at the time the grounds for divorce arose or where the marital offense was committed. If one or both of the parties is domiciled in this state at the time the action…

If a divorce is denied, the court shall retain jurisdiction of the case and may order all or any portion of the relief provided for in this article that has been demanded in the pleadings.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section: (1) If the marriage was entered into within this state, an action for divorce is maintainable if one of the parties is an actual bona fide resident of this state at the time of commencement of the action, without…

(a) If the respondent in an action for divorce is a resident of this state, the petitioner has an option to bring the action in the county in which the parties last cohabited or in the county where the respondent resides. (b) If the respondent in an action for divorce is not a re…

(a) Either or both of the parties to a marriage may initiate an action for divorce. (b) A spouse who is under the age of majority has standing in a divorce action to sue, answer or plead by a next friend. (c) An incompetent or insane person shall sue, answer or plead by his or he…

The court may order a divorce if the complaint alleges that irreconcilable differences exist between the parties and an answer is filed admitting that allegation. A complaint alleging irreconcilable differences shall set forth the names of any dependent children of either or both…

(a) A divorce may be ordered when the parties have lived separate and apart in separate places of abode without any cohabitation and without interruption for one year. The separation may occur as a result of the voluntary act of one of the parties or the mutual consent of both pa…

(a) A divorce may be ordered for cruel or inhuman treatment by either party against the other. Cruel or inhuman treatment includes, but is not limited to, the following: (1) Reasonable apprehension of bodily harm; (2) False accusation of adultery or homosexuality; or (3) Conduct …

A divorce may be ordered for adultery. Adultery is the voluntary sexual intercourse of a married man or woman with a person other than the offender's wife or husband. The burden is on the party seeking the divorce to prove the alleged adultery by clear and convincing evidence.

A divorce may be ordered when either of the parties subsequent to the marriage has, in or out of this state, been convicted for the commission of a crime that is a felony and, the conviction is final.

(a) A divorce may be ordered for permanent and incurable insanity, only if the person is permanently and incurably insane and has been confined in a mental hospital or other similar institution for a period of not less than three consecutive years next preceding the filing of the…

(a) A divorce may be ordered for habitual drunkenness of either party subsequent to the marriage. (b) A divorce may be ordered for the addiction of either party, subsequent to the marriage, to the habitual use of any narcotic or dangerous drug defined in this code.

A divorce may be ordered to the party abandoned, when either party willfully abandons or deserts the other for six months.

(a) A divorce may be ordered for abuse or neglect of a child of the parties or of one of the parties, "abuse" meaning any physical or mental injury inflicted on such child including, but not limited to, sexual molestation; and "neglect" is willful failure to provide, by a party w…

No divorce for adultery shall be granted on the uncorroborated testimony of a prostitute, or a particeps criminis, or when it appears that the parties voluntarily cohabited after the knowledge of the adultery, or that it occurred more than three years before the institution of th…

All pleadings in a divorce action must be verified by the party in whose name they are filed.

(a) An action for divorce is instituted by a verified petition and the formal style and the caption for all pleadings is "In Re the marriage of ________ and ________". The parties shall be identified in all pleadings as "petitioner" and "respondent". (b) The petition must set for…

(a) The responsive pleading to a petition for divorce is denominated an answer. The form and requisites for an answer to a petition for divorce are governed by the rules of civil procedure. (b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, an allegedly guilty party who re…

(a) At any time after the parties to a marriage have lived separate and apart in separate places of abode without any cohabitation or after a party is abandoned or deserted, either party living separate and apart or the party abandoned may apply for temporary relief in accordance…

Amendments to pleadings in an action for divorce are permitted upon the same general considerations which govern the practice in other proceedings, and are properly allowed for the purpose of making the allegations of the pleading more definite and certain, of asserting an essent…

At the time of the filing of the complaint or at any time after the commencement of an action for divorce under the provisions of this article and upon motion for temporary relief, notice of hearing and hearing, the court may order all or any portion of the following temporary re…

The court may require either party to pay temporary spousal support in the form of periodic installments, or a lump sum, or both, for the maintenance of the other party.

(a) The court shall enter a temporary parenting order in accordance with the provisions of sections 9-203 and 9-204 of this chapter that incorporates a temporary parenting plan. (b) When the action involves a minor child or children, the court shall require either party to pay te…

(a) The court may compel either party to pay attorney's fees and court costs reasonably necessary to enable the other party to prosecute or defend the action. The question of whether or not a party is entitled to temporary spousal support is not decisive of that party's right to …

As an incident to requiring the payment of temporary spousal support, the court may order either party to continue in effect existing policies of insurance covering the costs of health care and hospitalization of the other party. If there is no such existing policy or policies, t…

(a) The court may grant the exclusive use and occupancy of the marital home to one of the parties during the pendency of the action, together with all or a portion of the household goods, furniture and furnishings, reasonably necessary for such use and occupancy. (b) The court ma…

(a) As an incident to requiring the payment of temporary alimony, the court may grant the exclusive use and possession of one or more motor vehicles to either of the parties during the pendency of the action. (b) The court may require payments to third parties in the form of auto…

(a) If the pleadings include a specific request for specific property or raise issues concerning the equitable division of marital property, the court may enter an order that is reasonably necessary to preserve the estate of either or both of the parties. (b) The court may impose…

(a) The court may enjoin the offending party from molesting or interfering with the other, or otherwise imposing any restraint on the personal liberty of the other, or interfering with the custodial or visitation rights of the other. This order may enjoin the offending party from…

(a) In ordering temporary relief under the provisions of this part 5, the court shall consider the financial needs of the parties, the present income of each party from any source, their income-earning abilities and the respective legal obligations of each party to support himsel…

To facilitate the resolution of issues arising at a hearing for temporary relief, the court may, or upon the motion of either party shall, order the parties to comply with the disclosure requirements set forth in article 7 of this chapter prior to the hearing for temporary relief…

An ex parte order granting all or part of the relief provided for in this part 5 may be granted without written or oral notice to the adverse party if: (1) It appears from specific facts shown by affidavit or by the verified complaint that immediate and irreparable injury, loss o…

(a) Every ex parte order granted without notice must: (1) Be endorsed with the date and hour of issuance; (2) Be filed forthwith in the circuit clerk's office and entered of record; and (3) Set forth the finding of the court that unless the order is granted without notice there i…