How to Use This U.S. Legal System Resource

Divorce law in the United States is governed entirely at the state level, with 50 separate statutory frameworks, distinct residency requirements, and court procedures that vary by jurisdiction. This resource organizes that complexity into discrete, navigable reference topics covering substantive law, procedural rules, financial issues, and special circumstances. Understanding how the content is structured — and what it does and does not cover — allows readers to locate accurate, jurisdiction-specific information efficiently. The directory purpose and scope page provides the foundational framing for the resource as a whole.

How to navigate

The resource is organized around discrete legal topics rather than a linear workflow. Each page addresses a specific doctrine, procedural phase, or statutory framework, and pages cross-link to related subjects. Readers entering at any point can follow contextual links to adjacent topics without returning to a central index.

The most effective navigation path depends on where a reader is in understanding the subject:

1. Foundational law — Start with Divorce Law Overview (U.S.) for a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction framing, then move to Federal vs. State Divorce Law to understand why no single federal divorce code exists.
2. Procedural questions — The Divorce Filing Process (U.S.) page covers the sequential stages from petition through decree. The Divorce Court System Structure page maps which courts hold jurisdiction in different states.
3. Financial and asset topics — Pages on Marital Property Division Laws, QDRO and Retirement Assets, and Divorce Tax Implications address discrete financial dimensions of dissolution.
4. Child-related issues — Child Custody Law in Divorce, Child Support Laws and Guidelines, and the UCCJEA (Child Custody Jurisdiction) page cover the principal statutory frameworks governing minors.
5. Special circumstances — Topics including Military Divorce Law, International Divorce and U.S. Jurisdiction, and Divorce and Immigration Status address cases with overlapping legal regimes.

The Divorce Law Glossary is available as a reference point for technical terms used throughout the resource.

What to look for first

Before reading substantive doctrine pages, identifying the controlling jurisdiction is essential. Because all divorce law is state-statutory, the applicable rules for property division, spousal support, and custody depend on the state where the action is filed. The Residency Requirements for Divorce by State page documents the specific durational thresholds — which range from 6 weeks in Nevada to 12 months in several states — that courts apply to establish jurisdiction over a dissolution proceeding.

The second threshold question is case classification. Divorce proceedings in U.S. courts fall into two primary procedural categories:

• Uncontested divorce — Both parties agree on all material terms, including property division, support, and child arrangements. Courts in most jurisdictions process uncontested cases on a documentary basis without a full hearing.
• Contested divorce — At least one material issue remains in dispute. Contested cases proceed through discovery, motion practice, and potentially a full trial. The Contested vs. Uncontested Divorce page explains how courts classify cases and how that classification affects procedural timelines.

A third threshold issue is the no-fault versus fault-divorce distinction. All 50 states permit no-fault dissolution, but 33 states also retain fault-based grounds (per the Uniform Law Commission's annotations to the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act). The No-Fault vs. Fault Divorce page documents which states retain fault grounds and how fault affects property and support determinations.

How information is organized

Each topic page in the resource is structured around four consistent elements: the governing legal framework (identifying the applicable statute, uniform act, or agency rule), the operative mechanism (how the rule functions in practice), common fact patterns or scenarios, and jurisdictional variation where the law diverges materially across states.

Content is grouped into the following subject clusters:

• Jurisdictional and procedural foundations — covering court structure, filing requirements, and the petition and response process
• Property and financial law — including the community property / equitable distribution divide (9 community property states vs. 41 equitable distribution states), debt allocation, business valuation, and retirement asset division
• Support obligations — covering both spousal support under state statutes and child support under the guidelines frameworks mandated by Title IV-D of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. § 651 et seq.)
• Custody and parenting — organized around the best-interests-of-the-child standard adopted in all U.S. jurisdictions, with separate treatment of legal versus physical custody, parenting plans, and relocation
• Alternative resolution processes — mediation, collaborative divorce, and negotiated settlement structures
• Post-decree matters — modification proceedings, enforcement, appeals, and decree recognition across state lines under the Uniform Divorce Recognition Act
• Intersecting legal regimes — bankruptcy, immigration, protective orders, and tax treatment

Limitations and scope

This resource covers U.S. civil divorce law as it exists in the state court systems and as shaped by the federal statutes and uniform acts that intersect with those systems — principally the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA), the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA), and Title IV-D of the Social Security Act. It does not cover criminal domestic law, probate, or estate planning except where those subjects directly intersect with dissolution proceedings.

No content on this resource constitutes legal advice, attorney-client communication, or jurisdiction-specific procedural instruction. Statutes and court rules change through legislative amendment and appellate decision; readers should verify current statutory text through official state code repositories or the Legal Information Institute (LII) at Cornell Law School before relying on any specific provision. For procedural details in a specific court, the clerk of court's published local rules are the authoritative source. The U.S. Legal System Topic Context page provides additional framing on how statutory and case law interact across the 50-jurisdiction landscape this resource addresses.