Family Law Attorneys in Montgomery, Alabama

What to do first

Get the paperwork together first. Tax returns, pay stubs, bank and retirement statements, the deed, each child's insurance card. Alabama support is calculated on forms — Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration requires Form CS-41, the income statement and affidavit, in every case that sets or modifies support. Nothing moves until the numbers are on paper.

Write down the parenting schedule you are actually living, not the one you wish you had. And read the forty-five (45) day notice rule below before you move with a child.

How a divorce works in Alabama

Alabama keeps fault and no-fault grounds in one statute. Ala. Code § 30-2-1(a) lists twelve (12). Two are no-fault: incompatibility of temperament, where the parties "can no longer live together," and irretrievable breakdown where reconciliation would be "impractical or futile." Subsections (a)(7) and (a)(9). The fault grounds remain, and relative fault can still bear on alimony. § 30-2-57(f).

Venue is set by § 30-2-4. When the other spouse is a nonresident, the filing spouse must also have been a bona fide resident of Alabama for six (6) months before the complaint, and must allege and prove it. § 30-2-5. Where both live here, it does not apply.

Nothing finalizes quickly. A court "shall not enter a final judgment of divorce until after the expiration of 30 days from the date of the filing of the summons and complaint." § 30-2-8.1(a). Simply put, thirty (30) days is a floor, not an estimate.

Custody, and what the court is actually deciding

Alabama separates two questions people run together: who decides, and where the child sleeps. Ala. Code § 30-3-151 defines both.

Joint legal custody means equal rights and responsibilities for the major decisions: education, health care, religious training. By itself it changes nobody's schedule.

Joint physical custody means custody shared "in a way that assures the child frequent and substantial contact with each parent." It does not mean equal time, and § 30-3-150 says so.

Sole physical custody means one parent has the child and the other has rights of visitation. It is not a finding that anyone did anything wrong.

There is no presumption in favor of joint custody here. Section 30-3-150 states a policy, not a thumb on the scale. On that question § 30-3-152(a) points the court to the parents' agreement or lack of it, their ability to cooperate, each parent's willingness to encourage contact with the other, any history of abuse or kidnapping, and geographic proximity.

Underneath it sits the best interest of the child, gender-neutral in Alabama since Ex parte Devine, 398 So. 2d 686 (Ala. 1981), which struck the tender-years presumption as an unconstitutional gender-based classification. The Devine factors include the child's age; the child's emotional, social, moral, material and educational needs; the home each party offers; and the child's relationship with each parent.

Child support and the Rule 32 guidelines

Alabama uses the income shares model, and Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Judicial Administration is where it lives. A basic obligation comes off the Schedule of Basic Child-Support Obligations, read against combined adjusted gross income, and each parent carries a proportional share.

It is important to note that the guidelines are a rebuttable presumption, not a mandate. Rule 32(A) presumes the guideline figure correct, rebutted only by a written finding that applying it would be "manifestly unjust or inequitable."

One change is recent enough to flag. Rule 32 was amended effective June 1, 2023 to add a shared 50% physical-custody adjustment: where each parent has the child roughly half the time, support is figured on Form CS-42-S and the basic obligation multiplied by 150%. Rule 32(C)(7).

Support runs to nineteen (19), it does not stop at eighteen. Ala. Code § 26-1-1. College is separate: Ex parte Christopher, 145 So. 3d 60 (Ala. 2013), overruled Ex parte Bayliss and held that § 30-3-1 does not authorize ordering college expenses past majority.

Dividing property and debt

Alabama is an equitable distribution state, not a community property state. The Court of Civil Appeals put it plainly: "A property division does not have to be equal in order to be equitable based on the particular facts of each case." Golden v. Golden, 681 So. 2d 605 (Ala. Civ. App. 1996).

Property brought into the marriage, or received by inheritance or gift, is generally outside what the court may consider — unless it or its income "has been used regularly for the common benefit of the parties during their marriage." Ala. Code § 30-2-51(a). That exception is where the argument usually is.

Retirement earned during the marriage is marital property, vested or not — pensions, 401(k) accounts, profit-sharing and savings plans, annuities. § 30-2-51(b)(1). Absent agreement, the noncovered spouse's share may not exceed 50 percent of what the court may consider. § 30-2-51(b)(2).

One number that used to belong here is gone. While older articles still print a ten-year threshold, the statute no longer conditions dividing retirement on the length of the marriage. The Legislature removed it in 2017. Act 2017-162.

Alimony after the 2017 rewrite

Alabama's alimony statutes were rewritten by Act 2017-164, and the new sections govern any divorce, legal separation or annulment filed on or after January 1, 2018. Ala. Code § 30-2-58. Earlier cases follow the prior law, which is part of why the guidance online contradicts itself.

A court awards alimony only on three express findings: that the party seeking it lacks a separate estate sufficient to preserve the economic status quo, that the other can pay without undue hardship, and that an award is equitable. § 30-2-57(a).

Rehabilitative alimony comes first. Unless the court expressly finds it not feasible, the court "shall" award it for a duration not to exceed five (5) years, absent extraordinary circumstances. § 30-2-57(b)(1). Periodic alimony remains where rehabilitation is not feasible or fails, and eligibility runs up to the length of the marriage — with no limit at twenty (20) years or longer. § 30-2-57(g). Ultimately, Alabama did not cap alimony at five years. That cap is on the rehabilitative kind.

The 45-day rule most Alabama parents have never heard of

Every Alabama custody and visitation order carries a warning most parents read once and forget: "Your failure to notify other parties entitled to notice of your intent to change the principal residence of a child may be taken into account in a modification of the custody of or visitation with the child." Ala. Code § 30-3-166.

Here is what it points at. Under the Alabama Parent-Child Relationship Protection Act, a parent with the right to establish where the child lives must notify everyone entitled to custody or visitation before that residence changes. § 30-3-163. Notice goes by certified mail, due "not later than the 45th day before the date of the intended change." § 30-3-165. It is not the same thing as the other parents consent.

Why does a notice requirement matter this much? Because of what follows from missing it. A court shall consider the failure in ruling on the move, on custody modification, on deviating from the support guidelines, and on attorney's fees. § 30-3-168(a). A willful violation may be contempt. § 30-3-168(b).

The move itself starts uphill regardless. Section 30-3-169.4 presumes that changing a child's principal residence is not in the child's best interest, though not where the objector has committed domestic violence or child abuse. A parent can still move. It is a legal event with a deadline attached.

Changing an order after the divorce

Custody is the hardest thing to change. Where a prior judgment already placed the child with one parent, Ex parte McLendon, 455 So. 2d 863 (Ala. 1984), requires a material change since that order and proof the change would materially promote the child's best interest, outweighing the disruption. It is meant to be hard.

Support is a lower bar: Rule 32(A)(3) requires a material change that is substantial and continuing, and presumes modification where the existing order and the guidelines figure differ by more than ten percent (10%). Relief reaches only installments accruing after the petition is filed. Periodic alimony is likewise modifiable. § 30-2-57(h).

In Montgomery specifically

Domestic cases in Montgomery County are heard in the Circuit Court for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit, 251 South Lawrence Street, which keeps a domestic relations division. The Clerk's Office does not supply fill-in-the-blank forms for many required pleadings and cannot give legal advice. Montgomery has also served child-support withholding orders immediately since 1994, absent an alternative agreement the judge approves.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a divorce take in Alabama?

There is a statutory floor: no final judgment until thirty (30) days have run from the filing of the summons and complaint. Ala. Code § 30-2-8.1(a). Past that, it depends on what is agreed.

Do I have to prove my spouse did something wrong?

No. Ala. Code § 30-2-1(a) includes no-fault grounds: incompatibility of temperament at (a)(7) and irretrievable breakdown at (a)(9). Fault can still bear on an alimony analysis under § 30-2-57(f), depending on the facts.

Do I have to live in Alabama for six months before I can file?

Only where the other spouse is a nonresident. Ala. Code § 30-2-5 then requires the filing spouse to have been a bona fide resident for six (6) months before the complaint, alleged and proved. Otherwise § 30-2-4 governs venue.

Is Alabama a 50/50 state for property?

No. Alabama divides marital property equitably, which is not the same as equally. Golden v. Golden, 681 So. 2d 605 (Ala. Civ. App. 1996). Property brought in, inherited or received as a gift is generally excluded unless used regularly for the parties' common benefit. Ala. Code § 30-2-51(a).

When does child support end in Alabama?

The age of majority in Alabama is nineteen (19), not eighteen. Ala. Code § 26-1-1. And since Ex parte Christopher, 145 So. 3d 60 (Ala. 2013), a court may not order a parent to pay college expenses past majority.

Did Alabama cap alimony at five years?

Not exactly. The five (5) year limit in Ala. Code § 30-2-57(b)(1) applies to rehabilitative alimony. Periodic alimony remains available where rehabilitation is not feasible or fails, and eligibility runs up to the length of the marriage — with no limit at twenty (20) years or longer. § 30-2-57(g).

Can I move out of state with my child?

Not without notice. Ala. Code § 30-3-165 requires certified-mail notice to everyone entitled to custody or visitation not later than the 45th day before the move, and § 30-3-169.4 presumes that changing a child's principal residence is not in the child's best interest.

What does it cost to talk to a lawyer about a family case?

The initial consultation is free. Family cases are not handled on a contingency fee the way injury cases are, so we will explain how fees would work first.

Talk to a Montgomery family law attorney

Barfoot & Schoettker is a small Montgomery firm. We represent parents and spouses in divorce, custody and visitation, child support, and post-judgment modification and enforcement across Central Alabama.

Every case turns on its own facts, and nothing here predicts yours. If you are facing a divorce, a custody dispute, or a change to an existing order, contact us for a free consultation at (334) 834-3444, or send a case evaluation form.