Reviewed July 2026
Filing for Divorce in Kentucky
A plain-language look at how divorce works under Kentucky law: who can file, how long it takes, what it costs, and where Kentucky's own court forms and self-help resources are.
Virdix's document-preparation product currently prepares divorce paperwork for California cases only. This page explains how the process works under Kentucky law, using Kentucky's own court forms and self-help resources, for people researching before they file. It is not legal advice, and Virdix does not prepare or file Kentucky divorce paperwork. See how Virdix works for California divorces.
Kentucky was one of the earliest states to move to pure no-fault divorce, abolishing all fault-based grounds and defenses (adultery, cruelty, desertion, condonation, connivance, collusion, recrimination, insanity, lapse of time) by statute in 1972, the only question a Kentucky circuit court asks is whether the marriage is 'irretrievably broken' with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation, and no decree can issue until the spouses have lived apart 60 days. Procedurally, Kentucky is unusual among larger states in NOT publishing a standardized fill-in-the-blank AOC petition or a general civil fee-waiver form the way many states do; self-represented filers are routed instead to an A2J.org guided-interview tool linked from the official Self-Help Portal, which drafts the pleading for eligible no-children, uncontested cases. Kentucky is also mid-transition on e-filing: its existing KYeCourts system is oriented toward attorney use, while a next-generation statewide platform ('File & Serve,' built with Tyler Technologies) was still unlaunched and on a delayed timeline as of this research pass, so pro se filers should be told to expect paper filing at the county Circuit Court Clerk's office as the reliable path.
Grounds for divorce in Kentucky
No-fault grounds
- The marriage is 'irretrievably broken' (KRS 403.170), the sole ground
Kentucky abolished all fault-based defenses to divorce in 1972 and expressly lists them as extinct in the statute itself (KRS 403.150(5)): condonation, connivance, collusion, recrimination, insanity, and lapse of time are all abolished. There is no fault ground a petitioner can plead in the alternative.
Source: apps.legislature.ky.gov
Who can file: residency rules
At least one spouse must have resided in Kentucky (or been stationed there while a member of the armed services) for 180 days immediately preceding the filing of the petition, per KRS 403.140(1)(a).
KRS 403.140(1)(a)
Source: apps.legislature.ky.gov
How long it takes
No decree of dissolution can be entered until the parties have lived apart for 60 days (KRS 403.170(1)); 'living apart' expressly includes living under the same roof without sexual cohabitation. Separately, if the marriage produced minor children, no testimony other than on temporary motions may be taken or heard until 60 days have passed from service of summons, appointment of a warning order attorney, or the filing of an entry of appearance/responsive pleading by the other spouse, whichever comes first (KRS 403.044). These two 60-day clocks run on different triggers and are not simply additive, but both must be satisfied before a contested or child-involved case can be finalized.
KRS 403.170(1); KRS 403.044
Source: apps.legislature.ky.gov
That figure is the statutory floor, not a promise. Service, exchanging financial disclosures, and the court's own hearing calendar routinely add time on top of it, and a contested case takes longer than an uncontested one regardless of the minimum. California, by comparison, requires a mandatory six month waiting period from the date of service.
Cost and filing fees
$188.00 base statewide filing fee for a civil case in Circuit Court (which includes dissolution of marriage), plus a $20.00 court technology fee, $208.00 total floor, plus any additional court facility or library fees, which may vary by county under KRS 172.180 and KRS 453.060. Confirmed directly via browser-located Kentucky Supreme Court Order 2026-15 ('Order Amending the Rules of Civil Procedure'), which amends Civil Rule (CR) 3.02(1) effective July 1, 2026 and is the exact Supreme Court Rule that KRS 23A.200(1) delegates fee-setting to. This is a genuine statewide fee set uniformly by Supreme Court order, not a county-set fee, earlier research could not locate this order because it is filed under kycourts.gov's Supreme Court Orders archive rather than a dedicated 'fee schedule' page.
Source: kycourts.gov
California's own statewide filing fee is generally $435 to $450 statewide, with a fee waiver available for those who qualify.
Divorce forms and papers
The petition
Kentucky does not publish a standardized, numbered AOC petition form for dissolution of marriage. KRS 403.150(2) specifies the required content of a 'verified petition' (ages, occupations, Social Security numbers and residence of each party; date/place of marriage; separation date; children's information; custody/support/maintenance arrangements; relief sought), but leaves drafting to the parties or their attorneys. Self-represented filers without minor children can use the Kentucky Court of Justice Self-Help Portal's 'Divorce without Children' guided interview (hosted on a2j.org), which generates the pleading; there is no equivalent official state form searchable in the AOC Legal Forms library under 'divorce' or 'dissolution.'
Source: apps.legislature.ky.gov
Fee waiver
Confirm the current status with the court. feeWaiverForm: no numbered AOC poverty-affidavit/in forma pauperis form for general civil cases was found in the official Legal Forms library (only AOC-DNA-11, which is specific to dependency/neglect/abuse, termination-of-parental-rights, and adoption cases, exists). The Self-Help Portal instead links to an A2J.org guided interview titled 'KY Motion for Waiver of Costs and Fees IFP,' but the underlying generated document's exact form title/number could not be confirmed without completing the interactive interview, so feeWaiverForm is left null rather than guessed.
Kentucky does not publish one official fillable form set the way California does. The official AOC Legal Forms library (kycourts.gov/Legal-Forms) does not contain a divorce petition or a general civil fee-waiver/poverty-affidavit form when searched directly; Kentucky instead provides guided-interview tools (A2J.org) linked from its Self-Help Portal that generate pleadings for eligible no-fault, no-real-property, no-minor-children cases and for fee waivers, rather than downloadable static PDF forms. https://kycourts.gov/Legal-Help/Pages/Self-Help-Portal.aspx
California uses standardized Judicial Council forms, starting with the Petition (Form FL-100), across every county. See California's own divorce forms.
Filing online
Mixed/transitional. Kentucky operates an existing statewide eFiling system (accessed via the KYeCourts/CourtNet portal at kcoj.kycourts.net), but its own registration language is oriented toward attorneys/KBA members, and no page located in this research confirmed straightforward self-represented/pro se access for a divorce filing. Separately, the Administrative Office of the Courts is building a next-generation statewide platform called 'File & Serve' (with vendor Tyler Technologies) to replace the current system; as of this research pass it had not yet launched, and the AOC's own page describes the rollout schedule as being extended for a 'smoother and more methodical rollout' without a confirmed new date. Net effect for a pro se filer: paper filing at the county Circuit Court Clerk's office remains the dependable path; e-filing should not be presented as guaranteed or mandatory.
Source: kycourts.gov
Uncontested and simplified divorce
Kentucky does not have a separate statutory simplified or summary divorce track. An uncontested case still uses the standard process, it just moves faster because there is nothing to litigate.
No separate statutory 'summary' or 'simplified' dissolution track distinct from the standard no-fault process exists in KRS Chapter 403 (confirmed by reviewing the full chapter's section list). An uncontested case where both spouses agree and neither denies the marriage is irretrievably broken can move through the standard KRS 403.170(1) process without the additional fact-finding required under KRS 403.170(2), which functions as Kentucky's de facto fast path rather than a distinct simplified procedure.
Source: apps.legislature.ky.gov
California's equivalent is uncontested divorce in California, which uses the same statewide forms as any other case but moves faster once both spouses agree on every term.
Filing without a lawyer
Kentucky allows self-represented filers, and most divorces filed in the state proceed this way. Because Virdix prepares paperwork for California cases only, a Kentucky filer handling their own case works directly from Kentucky's own forms and self-help materials rather than a Virdix-prepared packet. Kentucky's official self-help resources are the direct source for the current forms and instructions.
For how self-representation works in the state Virdix does serve, see divorce without a lawyer in California and DIY divorce vs. hiring a lawyer.
More about divorce in Kentucky
How property is divided
Equitable distribution, not community property. KRS 403.190 requires the court to divide 'marital property' in 'just proportions' considering statutory factors (each spouse's contribution including as homemaker, value set apart to each spouse, duration of the marriage, and economic circumstances), expressly 'without regard to marital misconduct,' and the statute's presumption-of-marital-property language explicitly lists community property only as one possible form of title-holding that does not change the equitable-distribution analysis.
Source: apps.legislature.ky.gov
California is the only state on this site with a full county-by-county breakdown. See how California's divorce process compares across its 58 counties.
This page is general information about Kentucky divorce procedure, not legal advice for your situation. Laws, fees, and forms change over time; confirm current details with Kentucky's own courts before relying on anything here. Virdix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law in Kentucky, and does not prepare or file Kentucky divorce paperwork. It is not a substitute for an attorney licensed in Kentucky.