Getting a Divorce in Wyoming? Divorce Law Cheat Sheet for the State of Wyoming
1. What are the residency requirements for filing for divorce in Wyoming?
You must have lived in the state for 60 days before filing for divorce in Wyoming. Or, if you were married in Wyoming, you can file there as long as you have been a resident from the time of your marriage until the time you file for divorce. You may file in the county in which you or your spouse lives, if you both are residents of the state.
2. Does Wyoming have a waiting period?
Yes. The court will not grant a divorce until at least 20 days after you file.
3. Does the state have grounds for divorce?
In Wyoming, you may file for divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences. You also may file for a divorce if your spouse is incurably insane and has been in a mental institution for at least two years.
4. How does Wyoming determine the division of property?
You and your spouse are encouraged to come up with a settlement on your own and present it to the court. If you can’t agree, the court will divide your property for you.The court will divide your property in whatever way seems most equitable, or fair. It also will take into consideration:
- You and your spouse’s financial situations after your divorce.
- How your property was acquired what restrictions on your property might exist.
5. Does Wyoming require mediation before a divorce is granted?
Mediation is not a requirement in Wyoming, though the court may order you and your spouse to seek some kind of alternative dispute resolution.
6. How does the state determine child custody?
Legal custody and physical custody are two different things. Legal custody outlines how involved each parent is in the major decisions of a child’s life — where a child goes to school, what faith he or she is raised in and other biggies. Physical custody addresses where a child will live and with whom.
Visitation is then negotiated based your physical custody arrangement.In deciding matters of custody, the court may require you and your spouse to attend parenting classes. Overall, it will be guided by what’s in your child’s best interest. In determining just what is in your child’s best interest, the court will consider the following factors:
- Your child’s relationship with you and your spouse.
- You and your spouse’s abilities to care for your child during visitation, including arranging for child care as needed.
- How competent and fit you and your spouse are as parents.
- You and your spouse’s willingness to take on all the responsibilities that come with parenting and accept a schedule for your child’s care.
- How you and your spouse each can best maintain a relationship with your child.
- How you and your spouse each interact and communicate with your child, and how that may be improved.
- You and your spouse’s abilities to respect each other’s privacy, parental rights and the opportunity to care for your child without interference.
- How far you and your spouse live from each other.
- You and your spouse’s physical and mental abilities to care for your child.
- Any other factor the court considers necessary.
The court will take into account evidence of domestic abuse in awarding custody and visitation.
The court seeks to come up with a final order addressing visitation in enough detail that understanding and following the plan is fairly straightforward. It will allocate the costs of transporting your child for visitation and require you and your spouse to give the other 30 days’ notice of plans to move out of the city or state.
Your child’s grandparents also may be awarded visitation if they file a petition and the court finds it would be in your child’s best interest.
7. How does the state calculate child support?
You and your spouse may submit your own agreement on child support to the court. It will review your agreement in light of the set amount that you would pay if you used the state guidelines. If your agreement is different, the court will want an explanation. The court will then approve or deny your agreement.
Otherwise, child support in Wyoming is determined according to a state chart based on the number of children you and your spouse have, as well as your combined net incomes. That amount from the chart is divided between you and your spouse in the same proportion as your individual net incomes are to your combined income. The non-custodial parent then pays his or her amount as support.
Your child support amount will differ from the chart if you and your spouse’s combined income is below the minimum. If both of you keep your child overnight for more than 40 percent of the year and both of you contribute substantially to your child’s expenses in addition to paying child support, the court will figure a joint presumptive support obligation for your case instead.
If you and your spouse have more than one child, and at least one of your children is living with each of you, the court will figure a joint presumptive support obligation for all of your children. The court may cut support in half for each day that your child spends with the noncustodial parent if your child will be staying with him or her for more than 15 days.
The court presumes that the support amount resulting from the state guidelines is appropriate. But it also may take into consideration:
- Your child’s age.
- Expenses for work-related or necessary child care.
- Any special health care or educational needs your child might have.
- Whether you or your spouse is responsible for supporting other children.
- The value of any services that you or your spouse contributes.
- Pregnancy expenses, if you and your spouse divorce before your child is born.
- The cost of transporting your child for visitation.
- Whether you or your spouse has access to health, dental and vision insurance through employment benefits.
- The amount of time your child spends with each of you.
- Whether you or your spouse is unemployed or underemployed by choice. In this case, the court will figure your potential earning capacity based on your work experience, educational level, the effect of caring for your children on your work, what opportunities exist in your career field, what those jobs generally pay, what special training you have and whether you realistically could earn that income.
- Any other factors the court considers relevant.
- The court order will require you or your spouse to provide medical care for your child and specify the proportion for which you and your spouse each are liable.
8. How does the state determine and calculate alimony?
Alimony is not a standard part of a divorce case, but you or your spouse may request it. The court will consider the other spouse’s ability to pay and may order alimony to be paid for life or in a specific amount.
9. Is there a waiting period before remarriage in Wyoming?
No, you are free to remarry after the court delivers the final judgment ending your marriage.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
You can read Wyoming’s state statutes online, here.
The Wyoming Child Support Enforcement Program maintains a site, here.
