Filing for a divorce in Connecticut requires drafting a lawsuit and having it properly served upon your spouse and returned to Court.  Your lawsuit does not need to allege fault on the part of either spouse in order to have the Court dissolve your marriage.

In Connecticut there is a 90 day waiting period before any divorce can be finalized. Unfortunately most divorces can and do drag out for several months longer. Timing of your case depends on the complexity of the issues presented and the willingness of the parties to cooperate with one another.  It is always our goal to get your case resolved as quickly as possible but without compromising on any aspect of your case along the way.

Clients are naturally very anxious about how their divorce will affect their relationships and their visitation with their children.  In determining issues of custody, which includes both legal and physical custody,  the Court will enter Orders using a “best interest of the child” standard.  While there is a statutory presumption in Connecticut favoring joint custody between both parents, the issue of custody is often heavily litigated.

Connecticut has a well established statutory interest in making certain that a minor child’s well being and care is provided for by his or her divorced parents.  In general terms child support is paid weekly by the “non-custodial parent” to the “primary custodial parent.”  Child support is deteråmined in accordance with the Connecticut Child Support Guidelines.  Medical costs, health insurance, and daycare costs are also considered as part of the support of a minor child.  Since a parent’s income is subject to changes in the future, child support is always modifiable until the child is no longer eligible for support.

In every case the parties will have to reach a fair and equitable division of their marital assets as well as their debt.  This is a multi-step process that requires experience, creativity and a lot of negotiation.  All property and debt acquired during the marriage must be identified, evaluated and considered. In addition to his experience as a divorce lawyer, Attorney Culkin also draws upon his MBA education and his past years of working at PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP to assist his clients in obtaining the best division possible of their assets

There is no absolute right to alimony in the State of Connecticut rather alimony may be awarded if doing so would be appropriate given the circumstances.  Alimony is set as to term and amount and may be modifiable if there is a substantial change that occurs in the future.  In deciding matters of alimony the Court may consider any and all of the following factors:

•   length of the marriage,
•  the causes of the dissolution, 
• the age, health, station, occupation, amount and sources of income, vocational skills, employability, estate and needs of each of the parties,
• The property division, etc.,