GLASTONBURY, CONNECTICUT · FAMILY LAW + FAMILY-VIOLENCE DEFENSE
Short answers to the questions people actually ask. Each links to a fuller explanation.
No. Connecticut divides property equitably rather than equally, weighing the statutory factors in C.G.S. §46b-81.
No. If one spouse states the marriage has broken down irretrievably, the court can dissolve it.
Not automatically. Connecticut permits the court to assign any property either spouse owns, including inherited and premarital assets.
Connecticut removed its general 90-day waiting period effective October 1, 2023. The court may now proceed shortly after the return date.
It can. “The causes for the dissolution” is a statutory factor in both property division and alimony, so conduct can influence the financial outcome even though Connecticut is a no-fault state.
In most divorces, yes, though often briefly and sometimes only once if everything is agreed. The nonadversarial track can resolve without a court appearance for couples who qualify.
No. Joint custody refers to shared decision-making.
There is no such age in Connecticut. A child’s informed preference is one factor a judge may consider, weighted by maturity, but the child does not decide.
No. Connecticut law has no maternal preference.
Not without agreement or a court order. After judgment, the relocating parent must prove the move is for a legitimate purpose, that the location is reasonable, and that it serves the child’s best interests.
Only on a demanding showing: a parent-like relationship with the child, and that denying visitation would cause real and significant harm. A best-interests showing alone is not enough.
By filing under C.G.S. §46b-61, often alongside establishing parentage through an acknowledgment or a court adjudication.
Connecticut uses an income shares model: both parents’ net weekly incomes are combined, a basic support obligation is read from the guidelines schedule, and that obligation is divided between the parents in proportion to income.
No. Shared physical custody is a criterion a court may use to deviate from the guideline amount, not an automatic elimination.
Wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, overtime, self-employment income, rental income, and many benefits, less specified allowable deductions. Self-employment income is calculated after ordinary and necessary business expenses.
Connecticut courts can order parents to contribute toward higher education, but the divorce judgment must either enter the order or expressly reserve the right to seek one later. Costs are capped at what UConn charges a full-time in-state student, and orders end at age 23.
Generally at 18, or at 19 if the child is still a full-time high school student living with a parent. Support may continue longer for a child with a serious disability in defined circumstances.
Yes, on a substantial change in circumstances or where the existing order deviates from the guidelines by 15% or more. Support does not adjust automatically — it changes only when the court changes it, so filing promptly matters.
For alimony and child support, a meaningful change since the last order — typically an involuntary income change, a change in a child’s needs, or a relocation. Custody uses a material change affecting the child.
No. The order stays in force and arrears accrue until the court modifies it.
Only if the judgment did not make it non-modifiable, and then on a showing of a substantial change in circumstances. The judgment language is the starting point.
Not automatically. The court must find that the recipient is living with another person and that the arrangement has changed their financial needs.
No. Property division in a Connecticut judgment is final and not modifiable, though it can be enforced if a party fails to comply.
Yes. An informal agreement does not change the order.
File a motion for contempt. Remedies include an arrearage finding, income withholding, a payment schedule, attorney’s fees, and in serious cases incarceration until compliance.
Contempt requires a wilful violation, and inability to comply without fault is a defense. It must be raised and supported with evidence rather than assumed.
It is possible but uncommon. Civil contempt confinement is meant to compel compliance and carries purge conditions, and it is generally reserved for wilful non-compliance by someone able to comply.
Parenting time is enforceable by the same contempt process as financial orders. Courts can order compensatory time, clarify the order, award fees, and treat persistent interference as relevant to custody.
Take the deadlines seriously, gather evidence of your ability or inability to comply, and — if your circumstances have changed — file a motion to modify, since defending the contempt does not change the order going forward.
Yes. Property division cannot be modified but can be enforced, including where a QDRO was never entered or a refinance never happened.
Yes, under the Connecticut Premarital Agreement Act, if entered voluntarily with fair and reasonable financial disclosure and a real opportunity for independent counsel, and if not unconscionable.
It can be challenged on limited grounds: involuntariness, unconscionability when signed or when enforcement is sought, inadequate financial disclosure, or no reasonable opportunity to consult counsel.
Yes. Connecticut recognizes postnuptial agreements, but they are judged under a stricter standard than prenuptial agreements — fair and equitable when signed, and not unconscionable at dissolution.
No. Those matters are decided by the court based on the child’s best interests and the support guidelines, whatever an agreement says.
It is the most reliable way to. Without one, Connecticut permits the court to assign any property either spouse owns, including inherited assets.
No common-law marriage can be formed in Connecticut, regardless of how long a couple lives together. Connecticut will generally recognize one validly formed under the law of a state that allows it, but proving it requires establishing every element of that state’s law.
You are arraigned on the next court day. Before that, the Family Violence Intervention Unit interviews both parties and reports to the judge.
No. Once police make an arrest, the case belongs to the State.
A criminal protective order is entered by the criminal court while a case is pending, as a condition of release. A restraining order is a civil family matter that a person applies for separately, whether or not any criminal case exists.
A pretrial diversionary program. Admission is discretionary and requires the defendant’s motion, eligibility is limited, and it runs up to two years.
A person subject to a protective or restraining order must transfer or surrender firearms and ammunition within 24 hours of notice. A conviction for a misdemeanor designated a family violence crime can also make possession a felony.
Not if a residential protective order says otherwise, even if the home is yours. Violating that order is a separate crime.
No. The criminal practice is limited to charges arising from a domestic or family violence incident.
No. A restraining order is a civil matter.
No. Connecticut’s definition includes coercive control — a pattern of conduct that unreasonably interferes with a person’s free will and personal liberty — alongside continuous threat of physical pain or injury, stalking, and a pattern of threatening.
The court can issue an ex parte order the same day where the application alleges immediate and present physical danger. A hearing follows within 14 days, or within seven days of an ex parte order where the application indicates the respondent has firearms or permits.
No longer than one year, though it can be extended on application.
It is a separate crime under C.G.S. §53a-223b — a class D felony, or class C where the violation involves restraint or threatening, harassing, or assaulting the protected person.
In different matters, yes, subject to conflict screening. Never on both sides of the same dispute.
Every case starts with a conversation about what you’re facing and what it would take to handle it.
