Kentucky Divorce Preparation Checklist

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1. Choose Your Immediate Priorities

Identify the matters that could affect safety, essential services, or your ability to respond to the case.

• Identify any immediate danger involving you or your children. Call 911 if emergency assistance is needed.
• Set aside notices or papers that may require a response, attendance, or another time-sensitive action.
• List essential payments coming due and any concern about how they will be covered.
• Identify urgent needs involving housing, medications, childcare, transportation, or access to belongings.
• Prepare questions about temporary orders or arrangements needed while the divorce is pending.

2. Put Important Dates and Documents Together

Kentucky divorce timing can involve different events. Record the underlying facts so your attorney can determine which requirements apply.

• Record the marriage date and where each spouse currently lives.
• Note the history of Kentucky residence or military stationing relevant to filing.
• Write down when you began living apart and explain the circumstances if you remain in the same home.
• Keep complete copies of the petition, summons, responses, and any available service records.
• Record the court, county, case number, hearing dates, and contact information for attorneys involved.
• Locate marital agreements and existing custody, support, protective, or other relevant orders.
• Identify any related proceeding or order from outside Kentucky.

3. Describe Household and Care Responsibilities

Make a practical account of what needs to continue during the case, including responsibilities that may not appear on a financial statement.

• Identify who currently handles essential bills, household administration, and routine maintenance.
• Note caregiving responsibilities for children or other dependents that affect employment or availability.
• List recurring appointments, transportation needs, and care arrangements that could be disrupted.
• If pets are involved, identify feeding, medication, veterinary, housing, and payment responsibilities requiring discussion.
• Flag disagreements that need a clear temporary arrangement rather than an assumption about who will take care of them.

4. Prepare an Income and Spending Summary

Use supported figures when possible. Separate current expenses from costs you expect under a different living arrangement.

• Collect available wage records, tax returns, and documents explaining regular income.
• Identify seasonal work, overtime, commissions, bonuses, and other fluctuating earnings.
• List business, rental, investment, retirement, or other income sources relevant to the household.
• Prepare a monthly expense summary covering housing, food, transportation, insurance, medical needs, and childcare.
• Include periodic costs such as annual premiums, school expenses, and foreseeable repairs.
• Identify work, health, training, or caregiving circumstances relevant to a maintenance discussion.
• Clearly mark estimates and explain any recent change in income or spending.

5. Connect Property to Its Supporting Records

A useful inventory shows what exists, what it may be worth, and what records explain its history. Do not leave out an item because you are unsure whether it is marital or nonmarital.

Identify Assets and Values

• List real estate, financial accounts, vehicles, retirement benefits, businesses, and valuable personal property.
• Record ownership, estimated value, the date of that estimate, and where supporting documents can be found.
• Gather retirement statements and identify public, private, or other plan information requiring review.
• Flag interests that may require an appraisal or a closer review of business records.

Explain the Source and Changes

• Locate records of property owned before marriage and any later sale or exchange of that property.
• Gather gift or inheritance documents and records tracing what happened to the funds or assets afterward.
• Identify loan payments, improvements, transfers, or ownership changes relevant to a potential nonmarital claim.
• List missing historical records and ask what evidence may be needed before accepting a classification or value.

6. Identify Debts and Contractual Commitments

The person making a payment and the person named on a contract may not be the same. Record both.

• List mortgages, credit cards, vehicle financing, personal loans, and outstanding taxes.
• Include rental leases, business guarantees, installment plans, and other continuing commitments.
• Record balances, interest rates, due dates, payment amounts, and named borrowers or tenants.
• Identify automatic payments and the account or card used.
• Prepare questions about creditor or landlord approval, borrower releases, and continuing liability under a proposed arrangement.
• Keep notices concerning delinquency, renewal, collection, or changes in terms.

7. Develop Parenting Questions and Options

Prepare information showing how your child’s needs are met now and how a proposed arrangement would work. Consider safety before ordinary scheduling preferences.

• Gather current parenting orders and any later modifications or protective restrictions.
• Describe the child’s regular routine and each parent’s actual caregiving responsibilities.
• Collect school calendars, work schedules, childcare hours, and activity information.
• Identify medical, developmental, educational, or other care needs affecting a schedule.
• Compare possible shared-parenting arrangements using real travel times, school mornings, and supervision needs.
• List questions about major decisions, holidays, exchanges, communication, and child-related costs.
• Explain any substantial care provided by a relative or other adult so its legal relevance can be assessed.
• Bring specific safety concerns and relevant records to your attorney promptly.

Children should not be responsible for gathering evidence, negotiating arrangements, or carrying messages about the case.

8. Investigate Housing, Coverage, and Benefit Changes

Before committing to a transition, determine which approvals, deadlines, and costs it may involve.

• Compare the full costs of retaining, selling, or leaving the current residence.
• Ask about financing or lease requirements before relying on a planned housing arrangement.
• List current insurance policies, covered individuals, premiums, and administrator contacts.
• Confirm possible changes in health coverage eligibility, required notices, and replacement options.
• Identify retirement transfer procedures and documents that may be needed beyond the divorce decree.
• Prepare beneficiary and estate-planning questions for review before making changes.
• Seek advice before a move or school change affects an existing parenting arrangement.

9. Prepare to Evaluate Proposed Terms

A workable proposal should explain both the result and the steps required to achieve it.

• Identify which facts and values are supported and which remain uncertain.
• Compare the property each person would receive with associated debt, expenses, and access to cash.
• Review proposed maintenance or support figures against reliable income and expense information.
• Identify tax, lending, retirement, or valuation questions requiring additional professional advice.
• Check who completes each transfer, makes each payment, and provides any required paperwork.
• Ask for clear deadlines and a practical response if a sale, refinance, or approval does not occur as expected.
• Have proposed agreements reviewed before signing and ask about anything you do not understand.

10. Keep Your Working File Reliable

Your file should make information easier to locate without changing or compromising the underlying records.

• Use separate folders for court papers, property, income, debts, parenting, and benefits.
• Save complete statements and label files with clear dates and descriptions.
• Keep original documents and electronic files intact, with summaries stored separately.
• Ask about preserving relevant messages and other electronic material.
• Maintain a list of missing information for lawful follow-up requests.
• Confirm how sensitive documents should be shared and how personal identifiers should be handled in filings.

Only access information you are authorized to obtain. Do not bypass account security or delete, alter, hide, or destroy potentially relevant records.

11. Confirm Your Next Steps With Counsel

Use the checklist to prepare a focused conversation, then keep track of the advice and responsibilities that follow.

• Bring complete court papers, available records, a short timeline, and your most urgent questions to a consultation.
• Ask which timing requirements apply and which deadlines need immediate action.
• Clarify local disclosures, mediation, parent education, or other case requirements.
• Discuss fees, communication, document delivery, and who is responsible for each next task.
• Keep a calendar of hearings, meetings, requested records, and submission dates.
• After entry of the decree, track property transfers, retirement paperwork, payments, and other remaining obligations.
• Save proof of completed steps and seek advice if an obligation cannot be carried out or is not being followed.

Use What You Have and Identify What Is Missing

You can make progress without solving every issue at once. Address urgent needs, organize available information, and turn uncertainties into specific questions. Update the checklist as your circumstances and the case develop.

This checklist is an educational planning resource for Kentucky residents considering or going through divorce. It is not a list of mandatory court filings and does not provide legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Applicable steps depend on current law, local procedures, individual facts, and existing orders.