• Kentucky divorce filing requirementsman and woman divorced image by Ivonne Wierink from Fotolia.com
  
  If you are a resident of Kentucky and wish to end your marriage through the filing of a dissolution of marriage, or divorce, you must meet certain statutory requirements before you can file. Once you have met those requirements, you must take steps to initiate the divorce procedure by filing a petition in the county where you reside or where your spouse resides.
  
  

Residency Requirements

• One of the parties--you or your spouse--must have lived in the state of Kentucky, or been stationed in Kentucky as a member of the United States military, for at least 180 days before you can file a petition for dissolution of marriage.
  
  

Grounds

• Kentucky has a "catch all" grounds for divorce petitions. All divorce cases in Kentucky use the "irretrievable breakdown" grounds in the petition. Unless one of the parties denies that reason, the judge will grant the divorce. If one party denies that the marriage is irretrievably broken, then the judge will take testimony and rule on whether or not to grant the divorce.
  
  

Petition

• You must prepare and file a petition for dissolution or marriage in order to initiate divorce proceedings in Kentucky. The petition must contain the parties' full names and addresses, date of the marriage and separation, grounds for divorce, names and ages of any minor children, a residency statement and request for divorce. The petition will be filed with the clerk of the circuit court and must also be served on the respondent (your spouse).