Jurisdiction

• At least one spouse must have lived in Alabama for six months or longer for the state to claim jurisdiction in a divorce. The Code of Alabama, Title 30, Chapters 2-4 and 2-5 state that you must file for divorce in the county your spouse lives in, in the county where you lived while you were married or--if your spouse does not reside in the state at all--in the county where you reside. Alabama extends their jurisdiction requirements for military service members to allow that they merely need to be stationed there.
  
  

Grounds

• Alabama offers a smorgasbord of acceptable causes for divorce, from no-fault grounds such as incompatibility and irretrievable breakdown of the marriage to fault grounds that include adultery, imprisonment, habitual drunkenness or drug use or commitment to a mental institution. A complete list of Alabama's extensive fault grounds can be found under the Code of Alabama, Title 30, Chapters 2-1 and 2-2.
  
  

Waiting Period

• There is a 30-day waiting period in Alabama between the time you file a complaint for divorce and the time that the divorce can be finalized. However, in the case of active members of our military, Alabama subscribes to the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act, which allows that divorce proceedings can be postponed for the entire time that a soldier is on duty and for up to 60 days afterward. This law protects service members from being divorced without knowing it while they are on active duty.
  
  

Custody of Children

• Absent a dispute, the courts in Alabama lean first toward joint legal and physical custody as being in the best interests of the children. Notably--and unlike some other states--Alabama will presume that both parents have an equal right to all information regarding their child (medical and school documents and police records) unless there is a specific court order in place stating otherwise. If a mother abandons her husband and family in the state, the father will be awarded custody if the children are seven years of age or older.
  
  

Property Division

• Alabama is an equitable distribution state. The term "equitable" does not necessarily mean a 50/50 split of property acquired during the marriage. It means that the court wants the division of assets and debt to be fair based upon the circumstances of the parties involved. This leaves distribution largely up to the discretion of the court.
  
  According to the Code of Alabama, Title 30, Chapters 2-51, 2-52 and 2-55, judges have the right to make a disproportionate allotment based on punitive issues if a spouse has committed adultery or some other significant fault ground. The Uniformed Services Former Spouses' Protection Act prohibits the division and distribution of any military members' retirement benefits unless the parties have been married at least ten years.