After you have established your grounds for divorce, the court may put everything on hold for another 90 days if you have minor children and the court thinks you should try to get back together.
3. Does the state have grounds for divorce? Yes. In Idaho, a divorce may be granted for any of the following causes:
- Your spouse committed adultery — had an affair.
- Your spouse is guilty of extreme cruelty, whether that’s physical injury or mental suffering.
- Your spouse has been separated from you for more than a year with the intention of deserting you.
- If you are a woman, your spouse has not provided you with the basic necessities of life because of laziness or wastefulness for more than a year.
- Your spouse is habitually drunk and has been for more than a year.
- Your spouse has been convicted of a felony.
- Your spouse is permanently insane, meaning he or she has been in a mental institution for at least three years, and the court finds he or she is incurable.
You may file for divorce because of irreconcilable differences, meaning there are major reasons why you should not stay married. You also may file for divorce if you and your spouse have lived apart for at least five years. Your divorce will be denied if the court finds that you and your spouse planned to commit one of the above acts in order to get a divorce.
If adultery is your grounds for divorce, you have to take action within two years of the act or your discovery of the act. If you are filing for divorce because your spouse has been convicted of a felony, you must do so before your spouse has been pardoned, or before he or she has been out of prison for a year or more. The court may look for other “unreasonable lapses of time” between when the action occurred and when you file for divorce.
4. How does Idaho determine the division of property? You and your spouse are encouraged to come up with a settlement on your own and present it to the court. If you can’t agree, the court will divide your property for you.
Any property that you or your spouse owned before you were married or any property that you acquired after you were married by gift or inheritance is your own separate property and is left out of the division of property. Anything that you acquired after your marriage by using the proceeds of your separate property also is your separate property.
All other property is community property. Any income, such as rent, that you or your spouse earns from either separate or community property becomes community property unless otherwise specified in an agreement. Property given to one of you by the other is separate property, but any income from that property is community property.
The court will divide your community property in whatever way it determines is fair and equal, taking into account these factors:
- How long you were married.
- Your prenuptial agreement, if you have one.
- You and your spouse’s ages, health, occupations, and your amounts and sources of income.
- You and your spouse’s skills, employability and debts.
- You and your spouse’s needs whether alimony (maintenance) will be awarded.
- You and your spouse’s current and future earning potential.
- You and your spouse’s retirement benefits, including Social Security, civil service, military and railroad retirement benefits.
If your home is community property, it may be awarded to either you or your spouse, or the court may order you to sell it and divide the proceeds.
5. Does Idaho require mediation before a divorce is granted? Mediation is not required, though the court may order it in your case if you and your spouse cannot resolve a disagreement over child custody or support.
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