Divorce Law: Residency Rules, Property Division, Alimony and Lawyer Fees

In most divorces, nobody has to prove the other spouse did anything wrong. The rules that actually shape your case are more practical: how long you have to live in a state before you can file there, how long you have to wait after filing, how the court splits what you own, and whether either of you will pay support. Those rules differ a lot from one state to the next. So does the cost, which depends mostly on one thing: whether you and your spouse can agree.

This guide walks through those rules with state examples, and covers what divorce lawyers charge and why they can’t work for a percentage.

Community property states9The rest divide property by equitable distribution

Nevada residency rule6 weeksCalifornia and Texas require 6 months

California waiting period6 monthsCounted from service of the papers

Contingency feesNot allowedLawyers bill by the hour or a flat fee

Where you can file and how long it takes

At least one spouse usually has to have lived in the state for a set period before filing, and many states add a county requirement. Separately, there’s often a waiting period after filing, or a required period of living apart. These are different clocks.

State	The rule
California	One spouse must have lived in the state 6 months and the county 3 months. The divorce can’t be final until 6 months after the other spouse is served.
Texas	One spouse must have been domiciled in the state 6 months and lived in the county 90 days. The court can’t grant the divorce until 60 days after filing, with exceptions for family violence.
Nevada	One spouse must have lived in the state at least 6 weeks before filing.
Washington	The court can’t act on the petition until 90 days after it was filed and served.
North Carolina	One spouse must have lived in the state 6 months, and the couple must have lived separate and apart for 1 year.
Virginia	A no-fault divorce requires 1 year apart, or 6 months if you have a signed separation agreement and no minor children.

The California rule catches people out. Six months is the earliest the divorce can become final, not the date it happens on its own. One of you still has to finish the paperwork and get a written judgment from the court. In Texas, the 60-day wait doesn’t apply if the other spouse has been convicted of, or received deferred adjudication for, family violence against the filing spouse or a member of the household, or if the filing spouse has an active protective order based on family violence during the marriage.

No-fault and fault grounds

A “ground” is the legal reason for the divorce. Texas’s no-fault ground is typical in substance: the court can grant a divorce without regard to fault if the marriage “has become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities” and there’s no reasonable expectation of reconciliation. Other states phrase it as irreconcilable differences or an irretrievable breakdown.

New York’s version has two conditions worth knowing. One spouse must state under oath that the relationship has broken down irretrievably for at least six months. And the court can’t enter the divorce on that ground until property division, spousal support, child support, lawyers’ fees, and custody and visitation have all been settled by agreement or decided by the judge. The no-fault label doesn’t make a contested New York divorce quick.

Fault grounds still exist in many states. New York’s list includes cruel and inhuman treatment, abandonment for a year or more, imprisonment for three or more consecutive years, and adultery. Virginia allows divorce for adultery, for certain felony convictions with more than a year of confinement, and for cruelty or desertion one year after the act. A fault ground can sometimes avoid a long separation period, but proving it takes evidence, and that usually means more time and money.

Louisiana is an outlier. Couples there can choose a “covenant marriage,” which generally requires counseling before divorce (except in abuse cases) and limits the grounds to things like adultery, abuse, a serious felony, or two years of living apart.

These rules are under discussion in some places. Virginia passed House Bill 303 in 2026, which orders a work group to study whether to eliminate fault-based grounds, including fault’s role in property division and support; findings are due December 1, 2026. In Texas, a Senate committee took public testimony in September 2026 on proposals to repeal no-fault divorce ahead of the 2027 legislative session. Neither has changed the law as of this update.

Uncontested and contested divorce

An uncontested divorce is one where you and your spouse agree on everything: property, debts, support, and the children’s schedule if you have kids. You file, exchange the required financial disclosures, submit a signed agreement, and wait out any required period. Many people handle these without a lawyer, using forms from the state court’s self-help website.

Some states offer an even simpler route for short, uncomplicated marriages. California’s summary dissolution, for example, is available only if you separated less than five years after marrying, have no minor children together and neither of you is pregnant, own no real estate, owe less than $7,000 in shared debts (not counting car loans), and have less than $57,000 in community property and less than $57,000 each in separate property (again not counting cars). You must also both agree that neither will get spousal support. The filing fee itself isn’t small: California’s statewide fee for a divorce petition is $435, and some counties charge more because of local surcharges.

A contested divorce is one where you disagree on at least one major issue. It works like other lawsuits: each side can demand documents and take depositions, the court may set temporary support or a parenting schedule while the case is pending, and if nothing settles, a judge decides at trial. Many contested cases settle partway through.

In California, filing for divorce triggers automatic restraining orders printed on the summons. Once the other spouse is served, neither of you may take the children out of the state or apply for new passports for them, sell or borrow against property, or cancel or change beneficiaries on insurance without written consent or a court order. Ordinary living expenses are allowed. In another state, read your summons and the court’s instructions to see whether similar orders apply.

How property is divided: community property vs equitable distribution

Nine states use community property: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. In these states, most property and income acquired during the marriage belongs to both spouses as a unit, regardless of whose name is on it or who earned the paycheck. Property one spouse owned before the marriage, or received as a gift or inheritance, is generally separate. A few others, including Alaska, let couples opt in to community property by agreement or through a trust.

Every other state uses equitable distribution, which means a fair division, not necessarily an equal one. Some equitable distribution states start from an even split anyway. North Carolina’s law says the court shall divide marital property equally unless it decides an equal division isn’t equitable; then it weighs factors such as each spouse’s income and debts, the length of the marriage, each spouse’s age and health, contributions to the other’s education or career, and the tax cost of selling assets.

In either system, the fights are similar: whether a house one spouse bought before the wedding became marital once both paid the mortgage, or what a business is worth. Debts get divided too, but the decree doesn’t bind your creditors. If your ex is assigned a joint credit card and stops paying, the lender can still come after you.

Splitting a 401(k) or pension usually takes a separate court order called a qualified domestic relations order (QDRO). Federal law generally bars retirement plans from paying a participant’s benefits to someone else, and without a qualified order, a plan isn’t permitted or required to follow a divorce decree that tries to divide them. Get the QDRO drafted and approved by the plan as part of the divorce, not years later.

Spousal support (alimony)

Spousal support, also called alimony or maintenance, is money one spouse pays the other during or after the divorce. Many states leave the amount and length largely to the judge. A few set formulas or hard limits.

Texas is one of the strictest. A court can order maintenance only if the spouse asking for it lacks enough property to meet minimum reasonable needs and meets a condition such as a marriage of 10 years or more combined with an inability to earn enough, or the other spouse’s recent conviction for family violence against them or their child. Payments can’t exceed $5,000 a month or 20% of the paying spouse’s average monthly gross income, whichever is less. Duration is capped at five, seven or ten years depending on how long the marriage lasted.

Illinois uses a formula when the couple’s combined gross income is under $500,000 and the payer has no support obligations from a prior relationship. Support is 33 1/3% of the payer’s net income minus 25% of the recipient’s, but it can’t push the recipient above 40% of the couple’s combined net income. How long it lasts depends on the length of the marriage: about a fifth of the marriage’s length for a marriage under five years, rising to 80% for a marriage of 19 to 20 years. After 20 years, the judge can order support for as long as the marriage lasted, or indefinitely.

Taxes changed in 2019. For divorce or separation agreements signed after 2018, the payer can’t deduct alimony and the recipient doesn’t report it as income. Older agreements keep the old treatment unless they’re modified in a way that expressly adopts the new rule. For more on how divorce affects your return, see our tax law page.

Children, custody and child support

If you have minor children, the divorce will also settle custody, a parenting schedule and child support. Those are decided under a different standard from the rest of the case: the child’s best interests, not fairness between the spouses. Child support is calculated using state guidelines based mostly on both parents’ incomes, and unlike a property split, custody and support orders can generally be revisited later if circumstances change. Our family law overview covers the basics.

Mediation and settling out of court

In mediation, a neutral third party helps you and your spouse work out an agreement. The mediator doesn’t decide anything and doesn’t represent either of you. Some courts require it before a contested custody or property issue goes to trial, and it usually costs far less than litigating. It works poorly when one spouse controls the money, hides assets, or has been abusive. If there’s been domestic violence, tell the court; ask whether mediation can be waived or held with the two of you in separate rooms.

Be careful what you sign at the end of a mediation session. In Texas, a mediated settlement agreement is binding if it contains a prominent statement (in bold, capitals or underlined) that it can’t be revoked, and it’s signed by both spouses and by any lawyer present at signing. Backing out after that is very hard, so consider paying a lawyer to review the agreement before you sign, even if you handled the rest yourself.

What a divorce lawyer costs

Divorce lawyers usually bill by the hour, usually against an up-front deposit called a retainer that they draw down as they work. Some charge a flat fee for a simple uncontested divorce. What they can’t do is take a percentage. Under the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which most states base their ethics rules on, a lawyer may not charge a fee in a domestic relations matter that depends on getting the divorce, or on the amount of alimony, support or a property settlement.

Flat and “nonrefundable” fees have limits too. Under the ethics rules, a fee must be reasonable, and some states (Arizona and Ohio are examples) restrict fees described as earned on receipt unless the client is told in writing that they can fire the lawyer and may be owed a refund. Get the fee agreement in writing, with the hourly rates for the lawyer and any paralegals and how the retainer gets topped up.

If full representation isn’t affordable, ask about limited-scope representation. The lawyer handles part of the case, such as reviewing your settlement or appearing at one hearing, while you handle the rest. California’s courts describe it as a way to get help at lower cost while keeping more control over your case, and many states permit it.

A lawyer is worth serious thought if your spouse has one, if there’s a business or pension to value, if you suspect hidden money, if custody is disputed, or if there’s been abuse. Your state bar’s lawyer referral service can give you names. Bring recent tax returns, pay stubs, account statements and a list of debts to the first meeting; the advice will be more specific.