The rest of what we have written about Kentucky. Every figure is quoted from Kentucky’s own statute or its courts’ own published schedule, and carries the date we last checked it.
Dividing property and money in a Kentucky divorce
The money picture for a divorce in Kentucky: how property gets divided, what Kentucky calls spousal support and how it is decided, whether one spouse can be made to pay the other’s legal fees while the case is running, and — the part nobody publishes — whether Kentucky’s own income tax follows the federal rule on alimony.
See a different stateKentucky
Every claim is traced to Kentucky’s own statute, court rule or revenue department, quoted where the wording carries the meaning. Where we could not verify something, the page says so instead of filling the space. Information, not legal advice — and tax questions in particular need a professional in your state. Corrections: thecusp.app/corrections.
The short version6 points · tap one to jump to it
- Does Kentucky follow the federal alimony rule? — Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018.
- How property is divided — Kentucky is an equitable distribution state.
- Maintenance — Kentucky calls it maintenance.
- Who pays for the lawyers — A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case.
- The thing worth knowing about Kentucky
- What we could not verify
In this subject 8
Does Kentucky follow the federal alimony rule?
The short version6 points · tap one to jump to it
- Does Kentucky follow the federal alimony rule? — Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018.
- How property is divided — Kentucky is an equitable distribution state.
- Maintenance — Kentucky calls it maintenance.
- Who pays for the lawyers — A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case.
- The thing worth knowing about Kentucky
- What we could not verify
In this subject 8
Since 2019, federal law has treated alimony as not deductible by the payer and not taxable to the recipient, for any instrument executed after 31 December 2018. Most people assume every state followed. Most did. Not all.
Kentucky is the state most often cited as a historical outlier here: for years its statutory IRC conformity date was frozen well before the TCJA. That has since been corrected by annual legislative updates. As codified for 2024, KRS 141.010(21) [the ‘Internal Revenue Code’ definition subsection] fixes ‘Internal Revenue Code’ for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2026 at ‘the Internal Revenue Code in effect on December 31, 2025’ (KRS 141.010(21), 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 161) – a static date that the General Assembly rolls forward annually and that is now well past the TCJA. Kentucky’s individual adjusted gross income statute (KRS 141.019) contains no alimony-specific addition or subtraction, so Kentucky simply follows federal AGI’s post-TCJA treatment.
So the federal answer is your answer: post-2018 instruments, no deduction and no inclusion, on either return.
Source: KRS 141.010 (Definitions for chapter for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2018 – ‘Internal Revenue Code’ definition, as most recently amended by 2024 Ky. Acts ch. 166, sec. 14) · read it on Justia — a commercial publisher, not the state’s own site
Conformity: static, updated annually by the General Assembly: 31 Dec 2025 for TY2026 (31 Dec 2024 for TY2025) (post-TCJA; historically Kentucky’s conformity date lagged for years before catching up)
Nationally: 37 states follow the federal rule, 9 have no income tax, and 4 are decoupled. The full fifty-state table and what each decoupled state does differently.
How property is divided
Kentucky is an equitable distribution state. That means the court divides marital property fairly, which is not a synonym for equally. What counts as marital rather than separate property is frequently the whole argument.
the court shall assign each spouse’s property to him. It also shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct in just proportions considering all relevant factors
Source: KRS 403.190(1)
Maintenance
Kentucky calls it maintenance. Using the state’s own word matters when you are searching for forms or reading a statute.
There is no guideline calculation. A judge weighs the statutory factors and reaches a number.
This is the norm and it is why alimony is the least predictable figure in a divorce. Two judges can reach different answers on the same facts and both be right. It also means the strength of your evidence about income, earning capacity and the standard of living during the marriage does real work.
the court may grant a maintenance order for either spouse only if it finds that the spouse seeking maintenance: (a) Lacks sufficient property … to provide for his reasonable needs; and (b) Is unable to support himself through appropriate employment
Source: KRS 403.200(1)
Who pays for the lawyers
The court from time to time after considering the financial resources of both parties may order a party to pay a reasonable amount for the cost to the other party of maintaining or defending any proceeding under this chapter and for attorney’s fees
Source: KRS 403.220
either party may move for temporary maintenance. The motion shall be accompanied by an affidavit … the court may issue a temporary injunction or restraining order and an order for temporary maintenance in amounts and on terms just and proper in the circumstances (KRS 403.160(1),(5)); KRS 403.220 fee awards expressly include ‘costs incurred prior to the commencement of the proceeding’
A fee award that only arrives at final judgment is close to worthless to someone who could not afford a lawyer during the case. By then it is over. An interim award is what stops a wealthier spouse winning by attrition.
If you are the lower earner, this is the single most actionable thing on this page. Ask at the first meeting, in these words: “Can we move for an interim award of attorney fees now?” Do not let “we will deal with fees at the end” pass unexamined.
Separately, if custody is contested you may be ordered to pay for a guardian ad litem or a custody evaluator, and the court decides how to split that. What that costs in Kentucky, and who bears it.
The thing worth knowing about Kentucky
Kentucky’s IRC conformity history is itself the state’s most distinctive tax fact for divorcing spouses: Kentucky is the state most commonly flagged as having lagged behind the TCJA on IRC conformity, but its conformity date is a fixed year the legislature must vote to roll forward annually (KRS 141.010) – meaning Kentucky’s alimony tax conformity is not a permanent settled fact but is re-confirmed (or could lapse) with each year’s General Assembly action.
What we could not verify
For Kentucky, we could not confirm the following from a primary source. We would rather print the gap than fill it:
- the child support model
If you practice in Kentucky and can point us at the right provision, tell us. Corrections are published with the date, what changed, and how long the error was live.