Divorcelaw Authority

Residency Requirements for Divorce: All 50 States

Every U.S. state conditions its divorce courts' authority to dissolve a marriage on the petitioning spouse meeting a minimum residency period — a rule that determines which court has jurisdiction before a single filing can proceed. These thresholds range from six weeks in Nevada and Alaska to two years in limited statutory circumstances, and failure to satisfy the requirement results in dismissal for lack of jurisdiction. This page maps the statutory residency rules across all 50 states, explains how the mechanism operates, and identifies the edge cases — military postings, recent relocations, dual-state couples — that most frequently complicate compliance.

Definition and scope

Residency requirements for divorce are state-imposed statutory prerequisites establishing how long a spouse must have lived within a state's borders — and often within a specific county — before that state's courts may exercise subject-matter jurisdiction over the dissolution action. They are distinct from domicile requirements, though many state statutes use the two terms together: residency refers to physical presence, while domicile refers to an intent to remain indefinitely as one's primary home.

The legal authority for these rules sits entirely at the state level. Because marriage and divorce fall under the police powers reserved to states under the Tenth Amendment, Congress has enacted no uniform federal floor for divorce residency. As documented in the federal-vs-state divorce law framework, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed in Williams v. North Carolina (1945) that each state may set its own jurisdictional prerequisites so long as due-process notice is afforded to the non-filing spouse.

State codes express the requirement in one of three structural forms:

  1. Pure durational residency — the filer must have lived in the state for a fixed period immediately before filing (e.g., Illinois requires 90 days under 750 ILCS 5/401(a)).
  2. Residency plus county filing — the filer must also have resided in a specific county for an additional, shorter period (e.g., California requires six months in the state and three months in the filing county under California Family Code § 2320).
  3. Domicile-based — the filer must establish domicile with no separate durational floor, or a very short one (e.g., Washington State requires only that the petitioner be a resident at the time of filing under RCW 26.09.030, with no fixed time floor beyond current residency).

The scope of residency requirements also interacts with divorce jurisdiction requirements, which govern personal jurisdiction over the respondent spouse — a separate question from whether the state may dissolve the marriage itself.

How it works

When a divorce petition is filed, the court clerk's office reviews the verified complaint or petition for a sworn statement of residency. Most state forms require the petitioner to attest, under penalty of perjury, the date on which continuous residency in the state began and, where required, the county.

The process follows a standard sequence:

  1. Petitioner establishes residency — Physical presence begins; the clock starts. Residency is generally continuous but brief interruptions (travel, hospitalization) do not toll the period in most jurisdictions.
  2. Waiting period runs — The statutory duration must elapse before filing. Filing before the period is satisfied is a jurisdictional defect, not merely a procedural one.
  3. Petition filed with sworn attestation — The petition includes a residency declaration. In California, this appears on Judicial Council Form FL-100; in Texas, the petitioner swears to six months' state residency and 90 days' county residency under Texas Family Code § 6.301.
  4. Respondent served — Service of process triggers the personal jurisdiction analysis for any property or support orders, separate from the dissolution jurisdiction.
  5. Court verifies at hearing — If the respondent contests residency, the court may take testimony or require documentary evidence (lease agreements, voter registration, utility bills, driver's license records).

A comparison of the two most-cited state thresholds illustrates the range: Nevada requires only six weeks of residency (NRS 125.020), making it one of the fastest venues in the country, while most Midwestern states cluster around 90 days to six months. South Dakota requires 90 days (SDCL 25-4-30), while New York requires that at least one of four alternative residency conditions be satisfied — the most common being two years of continuous residency — under New York Domestic Relations Law § 230.

The full state-by-state breakdown is maintained in the companion reference at residency requirements divorce by state.

Common scenarios

Scenario 1 — Spouse relocated to establish jurisdiction
A spouse who moves to a state specifically to obtain a faster divorce must satisfy the full statutory period. Courts have found that motive for relocation is irrelevant to the validity of residency so long as physical presence and domiciliary intent coexist. Nevada's six-week rule is frequently invoked in this context; the state's residency statute (NRS 125.020) explicitly contemplates brief establishment periods.

Scenario 2 — Military service members
Active-duty personnel may file in the state where they are stationed, the state of their legal domicile, or the state where their spouse resides, under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. § 3901 et seq.). The military divorce law framework addresses how deployment periods and permanent change-of-station orders interact with the residency clock, including provisions that prevent tolling from counting unfavorably against the service member.

Scenario 3 — Spouses domiciled in different states
When each spouse has established residency in a different state, either state may have jurisdiction to dissolve the marriage, but property and support orders require personal jurisdiction over the non-resident spouse. Courts in the filing spouse's state routinely exercise dissolution-only jurisdiction even when the non-resident respondent cannot be subjected to in personam jurisdiction there — a distinction explored in the divorce court system structure reference.

Scenario 4 — Recent immigrants or visa holders
Noncitizen spouses on temporary visas may struggle to establish domiciliary intent — a prerequisite in states that use the domicile model. Immigration status itself does not bar filing, but the intent-to-remain element of domicile may be contested. The intersection with immigration consequences is covered in divorce and immigration status.

Scenario 5 — International marriages with U.S. filing
If one spouse is a U.S. resident and the other is abroad, the U.S. resident may file once residency is satisfied. Recognition of the resulting decree in the other country is a separate question governed by that nation's private international law. The international divorce US jurisdiction page addresses recognition issues.

Decision boundaries

Several threshold questions determine whether a residency requirement is satisfied or whether an alternative strategy is necessary:

State residency vs. county residency
Twelve states impose a separate county residency requirement in addition to the state period. California (3 months county / 6 months state under Family Code § 2320) and Texas (90 days county / 6 months state under Family Code § 6.301) are the most populous examples. Filing in the wrong county before the county period is satisfied is a venue defect — correctable by transfer — rather than a jurisdictional defect, but it delays proceedings.

Domicile-only states vs. durational states
Washington, Alaska, and South Dakota set low or no minimum durational floors but require genuine domicile. A person who rents an apartment in Washington but maintains a home and business in California may fail the domicile prong even with physical presence. Courts examine objective indicia: where the person votes, files taxes, holds a driver's license, and maintains primary property.

Separation periods that run concurrently
Several states impose a mandatory separation period that may overlap with the residency requirement. North Carolina requires one year of separation before a divorce may be granted (N.C.G.S. § 50-6), while the residency requirement is only six months (N.C.G.S. § 50-8). A petitioner who moves to North Carolina and begins a separation simultaneously will satisfy the residency floor well before the separation period ends. The relationship between separation and divorce grounds is analyzed in the legal separation vs divorce reference.

Effect of prior out-of-state filing
A filing initiated in one state that is later dismissed or withdrawn does not toll or credit the residency clock in a second state. Each state's clock runs independently from the date physical presence began in that state.

Jurisdictional challenge by respondent
The non-filing spouse may challenge residency by filing a motion to dismiss for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Unlike personal jurisdiction defects, subject-matter jurisdiction defects cannot be waived by the parties and may be raised at any point, including on appeal. This is consistent with the general divorce filing process rule that jurisdictional prerequisites are non-waivable.

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