CFP®, CDFA® | Divorce Financial Planner and Mediator
Going through a divorce can be emotionally taxing, especially if you and your spouse are in conflict or need to negotiate the support and custody of minor children.
Under Idaho law, two types of divorce exist: contested and uncontested divorce. In the case of a contested divorce, the parties dispute some or all aspects regarding the divorce. Contested divorces can take a long time and typically involve a trial.
In an uncontested divorce, the parties reached an agreement on all aspects relating to the case, including:
● Distribution of marital property.
● Custody and support of a minor child.
● Spousal maintenance.
Uncontested divorces tend to resolve more quickly than contested cases.
This guide takes an in-depth look at how to get a divorce in Idaho, including some of the most significant legal aspects affecting this process.
Table of Contents
Idaho Divorce Statistics
According to the latest statistics, Idaho has 3.9 divorces per 1,000 residents per year. While this figure is significantly lower than the 1993 statistics, Idaho’s divorce rate is high compared to the national average of 2.9.
Various factors contribute to Idaho’s relatively high divorce rate, including infidelity, domestic violence, alcoholism, and drug abuse. Idahoans also marry at a younger age than people elsewhere in the country. The average marital age in Idaho ranges between 20 and 24, and some believe that marrying younger increases the risk of the marriage ending in divorce.
Grounds for Divorce in Idaho
Idaho law allows for no-fault divorce, which means spouses need to state in their petition that they want to end their marriage due to irreconcilable differences, with no hope of reconciliation. The parties can also show that they have lived separately with no cohabitation for at least five years.
Idaho divorce law also accepts marital misconduct as grounds for divorce. The grounds for a fault-based divorce include:
● Adultery.
● Abuse or extreme cruelty.
● Willful desertion or willful neglect for at least one year.
● Habitual alcohol or drug abuse for at least one year.
● The conviction of a felony.
If your spouse meets the legal and permanent insanity requirements, you can also file for divorce, provided that a mental facility housed them for at least three years.
Filing for a divorce or legal separation on an at-fault basis can take a longer time. Still, this approach might help ensure a favorable outcome for you in terms of child custody, the distribution of property, or other matters.
Property Division in Idaho
If parties to a divorce cannot agree on how to divide their marital assets and debts, the court will make this decision. As a community property state, Idaho favors an equal distribution of spouses’ property acquired during the marriage, including retirement benefits. The property that a spouse acquired before the marriage (or assets they received as a gift or as part of an inheritance) is separate property that doesn’t form part of the marital assets.
The factors that a court considers when formulating a sufficient property division ruling include:
● Marital fault in the case of a fault-based divorce.
● Economic misconduct in the form of wasteful or fraudulent marital asset spending.
● Spouses’ income and earning capacity.
● Contributions to the marriage.
Spousal Support in Idaho
If the court finds that a party to a divorce is not self-supporting during a divorce case, it may award spousal maintenance under the state divorce laws.
When determining whether to grant support, the court considers various factors, including:
● The financial resources of the person filing for support.
● The vocational skills of the spouse seeking support.
● The time that the spouse seeking maintenance needs to acquire education and seek employment.
● The age and physical and emotional condition of the party pursuing maintenance.
● The tax consequences of a maintenance order.
● Any marital faults of either party.
The responding spouse’s ability to provide support while meeting their own needs and the needs of children is significant in determining the amount and duration of spousal maintenance.
If you require spousal maintenance, seeking legal advice from a reputable law firm might help achieve a favorable outcome.
Child Support and Custody: The Rights of Minor Children
Under Idaho state law, parents going through a divorce need to establish child support in their marital settlement agreement. Both parents have a legal obligation to provide support, regardless of where the child resides.
Idaho child support guidelines follow the income shares model to calculate support for children after a divorce. Using this model, the court estimates the amounts parents would have contributed to the child’s life expenses if the marriage had remained intact.
The guidelines include a table of basic rates indicating the amounts parents must pay, providing for the child’s basic needs, including sufficient education.
In terms of child custody, Idaho law recognizes two types:
● Physical custody, which is based on where the child lives
● Legal custody, which involves a parent’s right to make decisions on behalf of the child
The court always considers the best interests of a child before ruling on child custody.
How to Get a Divorce in Idaho
Idaho has a relatively straightforward divorce process, especially in the case of an uncontested divorce, where the parties have irreconcilable differences. Before you file for divorce, consider getting legal advice from a reputable law firm. Using professional legal services can make it easier to navigate the court system and achieve the best possible outcome.
Eligibility for Divorce in Idaho
Only Idaho residents are eligible to file for divorce in this state. However, Idaho is one of the states with the shortest residency requirements, and the person filing the divorce complaint must have been a state resident for at least six weeks before the filing date.
To be eligible for divorce, you also need to provide a valid reason for ending the marriage. In the case of a no-fault divorce, you need to indicate that your marriage is beyond saving.
The Divorce Process: How to File for Divorce in Idaho
Each divorce case is unique, and how long the process takes depends on various factors. Generally, uncontested divorce proceedings are quicker than contested cases. Similarly, divorce cases involving the distribution of property, child custody and support, and spousal maintenance disputes also tend to take longer.
Drawing Up Divorce Forms
The first step in the divorce process is preparing and filing the correct divorce paperwork with the court. If you don’t have an attorney, you can find most family law firms on the self-help website of the Idaho judicial branch.
To make the process easier, the Idaho Supreme Court bundles all the divorce papers according to each situation, but you can download the forms individually as well.
If you are filing for divorce and have no children, you need to prepare the following forms:
● Petition for Divorce (No Children)
● Family Law Case Information Sheet
● Affidavit of Service with Orders
● Summons with Orders
● Vital Statistics Form
When filing for divorce with children, you need to prepare the following divorce papers.
● Petition for Divorce (with Children)
● Family Law Case Information Sheet
● Affidavit of Service with Orders
● Summons with Orders
● Vital Statistics Certificate of Divorce
● Affidavit Verifying Income
● Standard Custody Worksheet or Shared or Split Custody Worksheet
● Parenting Plan
Filing Forms
After preparing your divorce complaint, you need to file the originals of these forms with the court clerk in the local court and pay a filing fee. If you meet the income requirements, you may request a filing fee waiver.
After filing the divorce complaint with your district court, you keep two copies of each form. You need to keep one copy for your own records and serve the other copy on your spouse.
Under Idaho law, the court will grant a final divorce entry after a mandatory waiting period of 20 days from the filing date. If you and your spouse agree on property division, child custody, and support, you need to submit the settlement to the court clerk for court approval.
Serving Forms
After filing the original court papers with the court, the filing spouse needs to serve the papers on the other party using a process server, sheriff, or third party older than 18. After the process server or sheriff delivers the documents, they will issue you an Affidavit of Service containing the name and address of the other party along with the address where the delivery took place.
You need to file the Affidavit of Service you receive from the process server with the court as proof that the other party received the documents.
Finalizing Your Divorce
After receiving the Affidavit of Service, the court will open your case. If you and your spouse cannot agree to a divorce settlement, you can consider a divorce mediation service. When parties fail to reach an agreement, the case goes to trial, and a judge rules on matters such as property distribution.
Upon finalization of the case, the court issues a divorce decree containing information on the ruling, and the state of Idaho issues a divorce certificate for your record-keeping purposes.