A divorce, officially called "Dissolution of Marriage", is the process by which couples untangle their familial and financial ties. A divorce can take as little as three months or more than a year to complete. Each case is individualized based on your situation.

Elements may include:

 

• grounds for divorce (fault/no-fault)

• asset and debt division,

• custody and parenting plans,

• child support,

• alimony,

• college education,

• insurance and

• tax issues

 

Custody orders in Connecticut are based upon the best interests of the child involved. Parents can reach their own agreements about custody and visitation as long as their agreement serves the child’s best interests. 

 

Physical vs. Legal Custody

 

Physical custody means that the parent has the right to “physically” live with the child. In other words, the parent that has physical custody determines where the child will live. When the child spends a significant amount of time living at each parent’s home, even if the amount is not equal, it is considered a “joint custody” plan. An example of a joint custody relationship is where the child spends four nights per week at one parent’s house and three nights per week at the other parent’s house.

 

Legal custody means that the parent has the power to make major decisions regarding the child’s welfare, including educational, medical and religious. Connecticut courts generally award joint legal custody, meaning both parents share this decision-making power. Even where one parent is awarded sole physical custody of the child, Connecticut courts prefer joint legal custody unless there are circumstances making it nearly impossible to share joint legal custody, such as abuse.

 

 

 

Alimony is money one spouse pays to the other for support during divorce proceedings and/or for some time following a final divorce. Alimony laws remain in place to ensure economic fairness; When a couple divorces after building a comfortable lifestyle together, a court may require the higher earner—whether the husband or the wife—to assist the lower earner in maintaining that lifestyle for at least some period of time.

 

In determining whether to make an award of alimony payments, the court will consider a number of different factors concerning the fairness of ordering either spouse to pay. Factors include:

 

• the length of the marriage

• each spouse’s age, health, and station in life

• each spouse’s occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, and employability

• each spouse’s estate and needs

• any award of child support benefitting either spouse

 

 

Under state law, both parents have a responsibility to provide for the economic needs of their children. If you are a parent going through a divorce, or if you have never been married to your child’s other parent and have decided to end the relationship, you will need information about child support. In Connecticut, both parents, whether married or not, are obligated to support their children.

 

Connecticut follows the “Income Shares Model” which means that courts will estimate the amount parents would spend on children when both parents and children live together in one household (as if the family were still intact) and then divide this amount between the parents based on their incomes.

 

Judges in Connecticut refer to the current version of the Connecticut Child Support and Arrearage Guidelines to calculate child support payments. If either you or your child’s other parent have primary physical custody and the other has a fairly standard visitation schedule (alternating weekends and holidays, some vacation time, and possibly some additional short visits), you can estimate the noncustodial parent’s child support obligation by reviewing the guidelines.