Ohio divorce laws

Where and how to file in Ohio

Who can file (residency)

The person filing for divorce must have lived in Ohio for at least 6 months right before filing (for a dissolution, either spouse). You usually file in a county where you or your spouse has lived for at least 90 days.

Waiting period

Dissolution (you agree on everything): both spouses go to a hearing 30 to 90 days after filing the petition (the 30-day minimum does not apply if you finished a collaborative family law process first). Divorce: no fixed waiting period, but your spouse has 28 days to answer and contested cases take longer.

Court

Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division (or General Division in some counties), in your county

Official forms

Divorce forms (Ohio courts)

Court self-help

Divorce self-help (Ohio courts)

Filing fee

Check with your court

If you can't afford the fee

Poverty Affidavit (Affidavit of Indigency) to file without paying the deposit up front; you may still owe costs at the end: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/forms/all-forms/affidavits-of-indigency/166

Simpler process for agreed cases

Dissolution of marriage: if you agree on everything, you file a joint petition with a separation agreement (Uniform Domestic Relations Form 17) and attend one hearing 30-90 days later. No grounds needed. (Ohio Rev. Code 3105.61-3105.65)

Law

Ohio Rev. Code 3105.03, 3105.62; Ohio Civ. R. 3 (venue) · Ohio Rev. Code 3105.64; Ohio Legal Help

Divorce in Ohio, step by step

1. Check that you can file in Ohio

   The person filing for divorce must have lived in Ohio for at least 6 months right before filing (for a dissolution, either spouse).

2. Get the official forms

   Use the court's official divorce forms: Divorce forms (Ohio courts) Dissolution of marriage: if you agree on everything, you file a joint petition with a separation agreement (Uniform Domestic Relations Form 17) and attend one hearing 30-90 days later.

3. File the papers and pay the fee, or ask for a waiver

   File with the Court of Common Pleas, Domestic Relations Division (or General Division in some counties), in your county. Can't afford it? Poverty Affidavit (Affidavit of Indigency) to file without paying the deposit up front; you may still owe costs at the end: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/forms/all-forms/affidavits-of-indigency/166.

4. Serve your spouse

   The clerk serves your spouse, usually by certified mail, after you file a Request for Service; other methods (sheriff, process server, publication) are possible.

5. Your spouse responds

   28 days after service (14 days to respond to a motion for temporary orders) The summons states the deadline. If your spouse doesn't respond in time, you can usually ask for a default judgment.

6. Wait out the waiting period

   Dissolution (you agree on everything): both spouses go to a hearing 30 to 90 days after filing the petition (the 30-day minimum does not apply if you finished a collaborative family law process first).

7. Agree, or go to mediation or a hearing

   Set by each county court's local rules; mediation of parenting issues is common. If you agree on everything, you can usually submit a signed agreement. If not, the judge decides the issues you can't settle.

8. Get the final decree

   The judge signs the final decree (judgment), which ends the marriage. Get a certified copy and keep it. Name change: Yes. When the divorce is granted, the court must restore any name you had before the marriage if you ask.

Free tools for Ohio

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Divorce timeline estimator for Ohio

See the earliest date the law lets a judge sign your final divorce decree, from your filing date. Nothing you type here is sent anywhere.

Grounds for divorce in Ohio

No-fault ground

incompatibility (unless your spouse denies it) or living separate and apart without cohabitation for 1 year

Fault grounds

Also allowed

Living apart first

Only for the separation ground (1 year). Incompatibility needs no separation but your spouse can block it by denying it.

Law

Ohio Rev. Code 3105.01 (also bigamy, willful absence 1 year, adultery, extreme cruelty, fraudulent contract, gross neglect of duty, habitual drunkenness, imprisonment, out-of-state divorce)

Property and debts in Ohio

System

Equitable distribution

The rule

Marital property is divided equally unless an equal split would be unfair; then the court divides it in the way it finds equitable, using the statute's factors.

Law

Ohio Rev. Code 3105.171(C)

Alimony (spousal support) in Ohio

Called spousal support. The court decides whether it is appropriate and reasonable, and its amount and length, using a list of factors (income, earning ability, ages and health, retirement benefits, length of marriage, standard of living, education, contributions, tax effects and more). No formula in the statute. Ohio Rev. Code 3105.18.

Children: custody and support in Ohio

What Ohio calls custody

allocation of parental rights and responsibilities (shared parenting or residential parent and legal custodian)

Parenting class

The court may require parents to attend parenting classes or counseling (Ohio Rev. Code 3109.053); many county courts require one by local rule.

Child support agency

Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Office of Child Support

Serving your spouse in Ohio

How your spouse gets the papers

The clerk serves your spouse, usually by certified mail, after you file a Request for Service; other methods (sheriff, process server, publication) are possible. In a dissolution, both spouses sign a waiver of service.

Time to respond

28 days after service (14 days to respond to a motion for temporary orders)

Law

Ohio Civ. R. 4.1, 12; Ohio Legal Help, Answering a Divorce

Going back to a former name in Ohio

Yes. When the divorce is granted, the court must restore any name you had before the marriage if you ask. Ohio Rev. Code 3105.16.

Mediation in Ohio

Set by each county court's local rules; mediation of parenting issues is common. Ask your Domestic Relations court.

Free help in Ohio

• Ohio Legal Help (statewide legal help site, divorce forms interview)
• Supreme Court of Ohio: Uniform Domestic Relations Forms

Good to know in Ohio

• Ohio has both 'divorce' and 'dissolution'; dissolution is the agreed, no-grounds route with a hearing 30-90 days after filing. (R.C. 3105.64)
• Incompatibility works as a no-fault ground only if your spouse doesn't deny it. (R.C. 3105.01(K))
• Marital property is split equally unless that would be inequitable. (R.C. 3105.171)

Changes in 2024–2026

House Bill 96 (136th General Assembly, effective Sept. 30, 2025) made only a technical change to R.C. 3105.171: in the definition of marital property, deferred-compensation money is now described as transmitted to the 'public employees retirement board' instead of the 'Ohio public employees deferred compensation board'. The property-division rules did not change.

Divorce checklist for Ohio

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Questions about divorce in Ohio

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