WYOMING DIVORCE
Wyoming law requires that the party seeking the divorce must have resided in Wyoming for a minimum of sixty (60) days prior to the filing of the complaint, or that the marriage was solemnized in Wyoming and the party seeking the divorce has resided in Wyoming since the time of marriage to the filing of the complaint.
If you have minor children living with your spouse in another state for over six months then you should consider filing in that state as that court has jurisdiction over the children. You spouse can waive that jurisdiction in writing.
County of Filing:
You should file the divorce in the county your spouse lives in, or in the county that you both lived in when you separated, or in your county if your spouse lives out of state. You or your spouse must have a Wyoming address in the county of filing. Wyoming civilian residents living overseas may file in Wyoming if they have maintained their residency in Wyoming.
MILITARY:
Active duty members of the military (or their spouses) may file in Wyoming if they have been stationed in Wyoming for six months or were residents of Wyoming when they entered active duty. Smart Divorce.com staff includes former active duty officers and enlisted personnel and are completely knowledgeable on the special military requirements and the “Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act”. Our staff prides themselves on the service they provide our military members.
GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE: NO-FAULT or FAULT ?
No-Fault Based Grounds:
Irreconcilable differences.
Fault Based Grounds:
Incurably insane and in a mental hospital of the state for a period of at least 2 years prior to filing.
WAITING PERIOD:
Wyoming law requires that no decree of divorce may be final unless and until twenty (20) days have elapsed from the time of the filing of the complaint.PROPERTY OF THE MARRIAGE:
In a divorce, the property (land, house, buildings, and items of personal property) owned (and debts owed) by the couple is divided between the parties. In an uncontested divorce, this division is accomplished by means of a Marital Separation Agreement (MSA). You and your spouse must agree to the property and debt division and memorialize your agreement in the Marital Separation Agreement, which will be incorporated by reference into the Decree of Divorce that ultimately ends your marriage. You may agree to divide the property any way you like, as long as a basic fairness is maintained. You do not need to list items already divided or not an important issue in the divorce. You may revise the MSA after receipt of the documents from us by sending an email with your changes. There is never a charge for revisions at any time up to one year.
If you cannot agree on any item of this division, the dissolution of marriage transforms into a contested divorce. If at the final hearing the divorce is still contested we do not provide advice for that hearing. You may need to consult an attorney or be prepared to tell the judge why you feel your requested division of property is fair.
SPOUSAL SUPPORT:
Spousal Support is either agreed upon by the parties or determined by the judge in a contested hearing. We cannot give legal advice regarding spousal support but will include your request in the documents.
The questionnaire you fill out will outline the custody, visitation and support for the children. We will prepare the documents accordingly, and we will also prepare a Marital Separation Agreement (at no additional cost) which outlines in specific detail all the provisions regarding the children. Both parties must attend the parenting class or get a waiver. A list of the places in Wyoming to attend may be obtained from the court.
CHILD SUPPORT:
The child support will either be an amount you and your spouse agree upon, or it will be determined for you by the court, according to the Wyoming Child Support Guidelines. If you wish the court to calculate the amount then you will need to file the standardized Child Support Guidelines form and Child Support Income Statement/Affidavit which we provide. See “Wyoming Child Support Calculator” on any search engine such as Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.
CUSTODY:
You may have Joint Legal Custody or Sole Legal Custody. This determines how the decisions are made regarding the raising of the child(ren).
Physical custody may be with one residential parent or “SPLIT CUSTODY” where the child(ren) live a substantial time with each parent.
VISITATION:
This can be any program agreed upon by the parties and may change from time to time. If the parties cannot agree then the state guidelines are in effect. State guidelines are outlined in the MSA provided with your documents. You do not need to list your present visitation agreement as it will change from time to time but you may if you wish. “No Visitation” or “Restricted Visitation” may be requested by supplying the reason on the questionnaire.
COURT ADDRESSES:
You must file the divorce documents in the Circuit Court in the county that you are filing in. Some court addresses for larger counties are as follows:
Laramie County District Court: 309 W. 20th Street, Room 3205, Cheyenne, WY 82003-0787 Phone: 307.633.4270 Fax: 307.633.4277
Albany County District Court: Albany County Courthouse, 525 Grand Avenue, Suite 305, Laramie, WY 82070 Phone: 307.721.2508
Sweetwater County District Court: Sweetwater County Courthouse, 80 West Flaming Gorge, Green River, WY 82935 Phone: 307.872.6448 Fax: 307.872.6439
Uinta County District Court: Uinta County Complex, 225 9th Street, Evanston, WY 82930 Phone: 307.783.0456 Fax: 307.783.0400
Natrona County District Court: Natrona County Courthouse, 200 North Center, Casper, WY 82601 Phone: 307.235.9243 Fax: 307.235.9493
Johnson County District Court: Johnson County Courthouse, 76 North Main Street, Buffalo, WY 82834 Phone: 307.684.7271 Fax: 307.684.5146
Campbell County District Court: Campbell Co. Courthouse, 500 S. Gillette Avenue, Ste. 2600, Gillette, WY 82716 Phone: 307.682.3424 Fax: 307.687.6209
Crook County District Court: Crook County Courthouse, 309 Cleveland, Sundance, WY 82729 Phone: 307.283.2523 Fax: 307.283.2996
Carbon County District Court
Carbon County Courthouse: 415 West Pine Street, Rawlins, WY 82301 Phone: 307.328.2628 Fax: 307.328.2629
FILING FEES:
The court filing fees for a divorce in Wyoming is approximately $80.
If your spouse won't sign and must be served, then the sheriff may charge a fee of around $25.
If you don't know the whereabouts of your spouse, then your spouse will need to be served by publication. The average publication fee is approximately $75.
You may call the Clerk of the Court in your county to determine the exact fees in your county.
METHODS OF SERVICE:
1. The most common way is to have your spouse sign the documents AFTER you have filed the complaint with the court. You can hand deliver the documents , mail them or have a third party deliver them to your spouse. This method is available even though your spouse is incarcerated.
2. If your spouse will not sign or you not not sure if your spouse will sign then you can get service by having the sheriff in spouse’s county serve a copy of the filed documents along with other documents requiring spouse’s signature. You can contact the sheriff in any state to serve your spouse. You can also get service by Certified Mail, (Return Receipt Requested) if your spouse lives out of state. If your spouse is incarcerated then you can get service by having the prison/jail officials serve your spouse.
3. Service by publication. If you cannot find your spouse after a diligent search then you can publish. The publication fee for the newspaper is approximately $65 but varies for different counties. Upon the filing of the Affidavit the clerk shall direct that service of notice be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the complaint is filed. We provide all the required documents for service by publication.
Go to our questionnaire and get started today.
