By Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce · Published · Updated
One year in Nebraska before filing, then a mandatory 60 days from the date your spouse is served. Nebraska does grant legal separation.
Nebraska calls it a 'dissolution of marriage,' not a divorce, and its process runs on a few state-specific rules — an equitable, not equal, property standard and a mandatory 60-day wait after the other spouse is served — that shape how you should prepare.
| Residency requirement | One spouse must have lived in Nebraska for one year before filing, with intent to make it a permanent home (Neb. Rev. Stat. §42-349). The marriage-in-Nebraska exception is narrower than it sounds: it applies only if the marriage took place here AND a party has lived in Nebraska continuously from the marriage until filing. |
|---|---|
| Grounds | No-fault only: the marriage must be 'irretrievably broken' (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-361). Nebraska does not require proof of fault such as adultery or abandonment. |
| Waiting period | A mandatory 60 days from the date your spouse is formally served (or last publication/mailing, if served by publication) before a judge can enter the decree (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-363). Neither spouse may remarry anyone until 6 months and 1 day after the decree is signed. |
| Legal separation | Nebraska does grant legal separation. It settles the same questions a divorce settles — support, parenting and, depending on the case, property — but leaves the marriage in place, so neither spouse can remarry without a divorce. |
| If you were never married | Nebraska does not create common-law marriage, and living together gives neither partner property or support rights. Claims rest on agreements between you. A common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them is generally still recognised. |
| Where you file | The clerk of the district court in the county where you or your spouse currently lives. |
| Filing fee | Payable when you file your opening divorce document. Set locally by the county, not as one statewide rate. A fee waiver is available if you cannot afford it (Filing a Divorce Case Without Payment of Fees). Filing fees are set by the court and change without notice: check the current schedule on the court's own website before you file, and ask about a fee waiver if the cost is a barrier. |
| Starting forms | Complaint for Dissolution of Marriage (DC 6:4.1 for no minor children, DC 6:5.1 if there are minor children), plus the Vital Statistics Certificate of Dissolution, Confidential Employment and Health Insurance Information form, and Social Security/Birth Date Information form. Cases with children also require a Parenting Plan and Child Support Financial Affidavit. |
| Simplified option | Yes — the Nebraska Judicial Branch's 'Simple Divorce' self-help process (with or without children) is available when both spouses agree on property, debts, and — if applicable — custody, parenting time, and child support, with no real property, retirement accounts, or alimony in dispute. |
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Nebraska divorces are filed in the District Court of the county where either spouse lives, and the case is formally a 'dissolution of marriage' based on the marriage being irretrievably broken — Nebraska is a no-fault state, so you generally don't need to prove wrongdoing to qualify. To file, one spouse typically must have lived in Nebraska for at least one year before filing, though that requirement can be shorter if the marriage happened in Nebraska and the couple has lived there since.
Property division follows equitable distribution, meaning the court divides marital property fairly based on the circumstances — not necessarily 50/50. Property either spouse brought into the marriage, along with gifts and inheritances kept separate, is generally treated as non-marital, but it can lose that protection if it gets mixed with joint accounts or used for shared expenses. A key procedural point unique to Nebraska: once the complaint is served on the other spouse, state law requires a minimum 60-day waiting period before a decree of dissolution can be finalized, even if both spouses agree on every term. That waiting period is a floor, not a target — contested cases routinely take longer.
Nebraska's disclosure process rewards early organization, since both spouses are expected to exchange financial information as the case moves forward. Start pulling together: recent tax returns, pay stubs, and W-2s or 1099s; statements for every bank, retirement, and investment account; mortgage and property tax statements for any real estate; vehicle titles and loan balances; and records for any business interest either spouse holds. If part of your case rests on property being non-marital — something you owned before the marriage, an inheritance, a gift meant for you alone — locate the paperwork that traces it now, before memories fade or accounts get consolidated.
Keep a copy of every letter, email, or notice you send or receive once things move toward filing. In Nebraska cases, correspondence often becomes the record of who proposed what and when, especially useful if the case settles through negotiation rather than a contested hearing.
When children are involved, Nebraska requires a parenting plan under the state's Parenting Act, addressing legal custody (decision-making) and physical custody (where the child lives) separately — a family can have joint legal custody with one parent as the primary physical custodian, or share both. Child support generally follows the Nebraska Child Support Guidelines, which weigh both parents' incomes and the parenting time schedule. Courts consistently favor parenting plans that are specific about schedules, holidays, and how decisions get made over ones that leave those details vague.
Legal separation is available in Nebraska. It is a court proceeding, and in most respects it runs like a divorce: the court can settle support, parenting arrangements and, depending on the case, the division of property, and the resulting order binds both spouses.
What it does not do is end the marriage. People choose it for a range of reasons — health coverage, religious conviction, immigration status, or simply not being ready — and it leaves the door open to reconciling without starting over.
Two consequences follow. Neither spouse can remarry unless they later obtain a divorce, and modifying the order generally takes the court's approval rather than a private agreement between you. If you expect to divorce eventually, ask what converting the separation into a divorce involves here before you start.
Nebraska does not create common-law marriage. There is no number of years of living together that turns into a marriage here, and none of the divorce machinery on this page applies to a couple who never married — no property division, no spousal support, no residency requirement to satisfy, because there is nothing to dissolve.
What unmarried partners have instead are ordinary civil claims: whatever you agreed between yourselves, in writing or by clear conduct, and claims over property you actually hold jointly. These are argued like any other contract or property dispute rather than as family-law entitlements, and they turn on what can be proved.
One qualification runs the other way and matters. A common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them — Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas or Utah — is generally recognised elsewhere. A couple who met that state's test while living there, and later moved here, are married, and separating means divorcing. Children are unaffected either way: custody and child support are decided on the same basis whether or not the parents married.
1) Confirm your residency situation early, since it affects where and when you can file. 2) Build your financial disclosure documents before positions harden — this is the one part of preparation that's entirely within your control. 3) List property and debts, separating what you believe is marital from non-marital, with the paperwork to back up any separate claims. 4) Plan around the 60-day post-service waiting period rather than being surprised by it — it affects how you set expectations with a spouse, employer, or family about timing. 5) If children are involved, start sketching a realistic parenting schedule before mediation or negotiation begins, since a concrete proposal carries more weight than a general position.
At least one spouse must have lived in Nebraska for a full year before filing, or the marriage must have happened in Nebraska with one spouse living there the whole time since. Filing before you qualify will get the case dismissed.
If you and your spouse agree on everything — property, debts, and (if you have kids) custody, parenting time, and child support — use the Nebraska Judicial Branch's Simple Divorce forms, which are simpler than a standard contested filing.
Use Form DC 6:4.1 if you have no minor children, or DC 6:5.1 if you do. State that the marriage is irretrievably broken — Nebraska's only ground for divorce.
Along with the Complaint, file the Vital Statistics Certificate of Dissolution, the Confidential Employment and Health Insurance Information form, and the Social Security/Birth Date Information form. If there are minor children, add a Parenting Plan and a Financial Affidavit for child support.
File in the district court of the county where you or your spouse lives. Expect a filing fee is set by the court; if you can't afford it, file Form DC 6:7 with a financial affidavit to request a fee waiver.
Your spouse must be formally served with the Complaint (by sheriff, certified mail with voluntary appearance, or publication if they can't be located). The 60-day waiting period starts on the date of service, not the date you filed.
Nebraska courts cannot hold a hearing or enter a decree until 60 days after your spouse was served. Use this time to finish any parenting plan, financial affidavits, or property agreements.
If both spouses agree and waive the hearing, the judge may sign the decree based on the paperwork alone; otherwise a short hearing is held. Once the judge signs, the marriage is legally dissolved.
Nebraska law bars either spouse from remarrying anyone, anywhere, until 6 months and 1 day after the decree is entered.
The short version: one spouse must have lived in Nebraska for a year before filing, the case is called a dissolution of marriage rather than a divorce, it is filed with the clerk of the district court in the county where either spouse lives, and there is a mandatory 60-day wait from the date your spouse is served. Property is divided equitably, which means fairly in the court's view — not automatically in half.
No. Nebraska uses equitable distribution, meaning marital property is divided fairly based on the circumstances of the marriage, which is not always an equal 50/50 split. Property owned before the marriage, along with gifts and inheritances kept separate, is generally treated differently, but confirm your specifics with a local attorney.
State law requires at least 60 days between when the other spouse is formally served and when a decree can be finalized, even in fully agreed cases. It's meant as a minimum cooling-off period, so build it into your timeline rather than expecting a faster resolution.
Generally one spouse needs to have resided in the state for at least a year before filing, though there's an exception if the marriage took place in Nebraska and the couple has lived there continuously since. Court websites or a local family law attorney can confirm how this applies to your situation.
A legal separation in Nebraska settles much of what a divorce settles — support, parenting and, depending on the case, property — and the order binds both spouses. The difference is that it does not end the marriage, so neither spouse can remarry without later obtaining a divorce. People use it for health coverage, religious reasons, immigration status, or because they are not ready to divorce. Changing the order generally requires the court's approval.
No. Nebraska does not create common-law marriage, and living together for any length of time gives neither partner property division nor spousal support. Unmarried partners rely instead on agreements between themselves and on claims over jointly held property, argued as ordinary civil matters. One important exception: a common-law marriage validly formed in a state that does create them — such as Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas or Utah — is generally recognised here, so that couple would need a divorce. Custody and child support apply regardless of marriage.
If you are in immediate danger, call 911. There is no statewide crisis line here that we could verify, so use the national one: contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or text START to 88788 if a call is not safe. For a mental health crisis, call or text 988.
Last reviewed August 2026. Researched and written by Neta, founder of SortMyDivorce. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice — laws, fees and forms change, so please confirm current details with the official sources above or a local family lawyer.
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