Nebraska Divorce Laws: Residency, Waiting Period, Custody and Support

At least one spouse must have actually lived in Nebraska, intending to make it a permanent home, for at least one year before filing. The one-year rule does not apply if the couple married in Nebraska and either spouse has lived in Nebraska from the marriage until filing. Service members continuously stationed at a Nebraska base for one year are treated as residents.

Nebraska is a no-fault state. The court grants a dissolution when it finds the marriage is "irretrievably broken." If one spouse denies this under oath, the court considers all relevant factors, including what led to the filing and the prospect of reconciliation.

A divorce case cannot be heard or tried until 60 days after the other spouse is served (or files a voluntary appearance). According to the court's self-help page, the decree is not final for 30 days after the judge signs and files it, and neither spouse may remarry until six months and one day after the decree is signed and filed.

The district court fee schedule lists a total of $200.00 to file a dissolution of marriage case (including a $50 mediation fee and a $25 child abuse prevention fee). People with very low income can ask the judge to waive the fee using the court's "Request to Proceed Without Payment of Court Fees" (in forma pauperis) forms.

After 60 days from service, the court may enter a decree without a hearing if both spouses waive the hearing, both certify in writing that the marriage is irretrievably broken and that they tried to reconcile, all required documents are filed, and they have a signed, sworn written agreement resolving all issues. The courts publish "simple divorce" self-help forms for couples with no minor children, no real estate or ongoing business, no pensions or retirement plans, no alimony request, and undisputed property division.

Nebraska divides property in a way the court finds "reasonable" (equitable distribution, not community property). The court considers the circumstances of the spouses, the length of the marriage, each spouse's contributions to the marriage (including care and education of the children), and interruptions to careers or education.

The court may order alimony that is reasonable considering the circumstances of the spouses, the length of the marriage, each spouse's contributions (including child care and interrupted careers or education), and the ability of the supported spouse to work without interfering with the interests of minor children in that spouse's custody. The court may require security for payment. The statute does not set a duration formula.

Custody and parenting time are decided under the Parenting Act based on the child's best interests. Factors include the child's relationship with each parent, the child's wishes (if the child is of an age of comprehension, regardless of age, and the wishes are based on sound reasoning), the child's health, welfare and social behavior, and credible evidence of abuse, neglect or domestic intimate partner abuse. The statute does not create a presumption of joint custody.

Nebraska Supreme Court guidelines recognize the equal duty of both parents to support their children in proportion to their net incomes; the worksheets use an income shares table. The court's self-help page links to the guidelines and worksheets and to a third-party calculator offered free for 30 days to self-represented people.

In Parenting Act cases, the court must order all parties to attend a basic-level parenting education course approved by the State Court Administrator; the court may delay or waive it for good cause and may order a second-level course. Each party pays any course cost.

Available. A legal separation decree provides that two legally married people will live separate and apart, without ending the marriage.

A marriage may be annulled if the marriage is prohibited by law, either spouse was impotent at the time of marriage, either spouse had a living spouse at the time of marriage, or for force or fraud. Annulments follow the same procedure as divorces, except the plaintiff only needs to live in the county where the case is filed.

Not recognized for marriages entered in Nebraska. No marriage is recognized as valid unless a license was obtained from a Nebraska county clerk and the marriage was solemnized by an authorized person.

A grandparent may seek visitation if a parent has died, the parents' marriage has been dissolved or a dissolution is pending, or the parents never married but paternity has been established. The court may grant reasonable visitation only on clear and convincing evidence of a significant beneficial relationship, that continuing it is in the child's best interests, and that visitation will not adversely interfere with the parent-child relationship.

Either spouse may ask in the divorce or annulment to restore a former name, and the court must grant it unless there is good cause not to. A parent and child having different surnames is not, by itself, good cause. The change takes effect on the date of the decree.

In Nebraska, people under 19 are minors. A parent's duty to pay child support ends when the child turns 19, marries, dies, or is emancipated by a court, unless the support order specifically extends support beyond that. The paying parent can file a written application to terminate support with the clerk of the district court, with a certified copy of the birth certificate, marriage license, death certificate or emancipation order. Unpaid support does not go away when the child turns 19.

You can apply for child support enforcement services online through the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS); the application takes about 20 minutes and you should have Social Security numbers and birth dates for you and your children, any existing support order, and the children's health insurance information. You must wait until a child is born to apply for that child. Help is available from Nebraska Child Support Customer Service at 1-877-631-9973, option 2. A $35 yearly fee is charged to the person receiving support once $550 has been collected in a year, with some exceptions.

In cases receiving state child support services, DHHS reviews orders on its own initiative or at either parent's request and refers an order to the county attorney to seek modification when it varies from the Nebraska Supreme Court child support guidelines by more than the amount set by court rule because of financial circumstances that have lasted at least three months and are expected to last at least six more, or when health coverage is available but the children have none. Except for health coverage, DHHS does not review an order less than three years old unless the requesting party shows a substantial change in circumstances, such as a change in employment, earning capacity or income. The county attorney then files the complaint to modify and represents the state; any party may also hire a private lawyer.

While a divorce case is pending, either party can apply with a supporting affidavit and the court may issue ex parte orders (without first hearing the other side) determining temporary custody of the minor children, as well as orders restraining disposal of property and orders against disturbing the peace of the other party or children. Ex parte orders on property and temporary custody last no more than 10 days or until a hearing is held, whichever is earlier. An order keeping a party from disturbing the peace of a child may issue only if the requesting party is also given temporary custody of that child.

The Nebraska DHHS Office of Vital Records issues divorce certificates to the people named on the record or their children (others must show proof of relationship; records can be released for genealogy once the registrant has been dead at least 50 years). You can apply online (Visa or MasterCard) or by mail with a $16 check or money order payable to Vital Records.

A license from a county clerk in Nebraska is required before the ceremony. Each party must present satisfactory documentary proof of, and swear or affirm to, his or her full name, residence, and place and date of birth. The license must be used within one year from the date it is issued. The county clerk's fee for issuing the license, administering the oaths and recording the marriage certificate is $50.

Both parties must be at least 17 at the time of marriage. Because Nebraska's age of majority is 19, a party who is a minor (17 or 18) needs written, sworn consent from a parent (the parent with legal custody if the parents live apart, or the surviving parent), or from a guardian, conservator or person with legal custody if both parents are deceased. Marriage ends a person's minority.

Any adult may adopt a minor child; a married person must be joined by his or her spouse. Written consents are filed in the county court where the adoptive parents live (or where a juvenile court has custody), signed by the child if over 14 and by both parents of a child born in wedlock, the mother of a child born outside marriage, or both parents where the father's rights are established under the putative father provisions. Consent or relinquishment is valid only if signed at least 48 hours after birth, and is not required from a parent who relinquished the child, abandoned the child for at least six months before filing, had rights terminated, or cannot consent. A preplacement home study by the Department of Health and Human Services or a licensed agency, completed within one year before placement, must be filed before the hearing.

The spouse of a child's parent may adopt the child. No adoptive home study is required for a stepparent unless the court orders one, but the court must order a national criminal history check and a central registry check of the petitioner, and providing the child's medical history is discretionary. The other parent's written consent is required unless an exception applies, such as abandonment for at least six months before filing, termination of rights, relinquishment, or inability to consent.

Parents are the natural guardians of their children. The county court (or a separate juvenile court already handling the child's case) may appoint a guardian for a minor if all parental rights of custody have been terminated or suspended by circumstances or a court order; filings go to the clerk of the county court. A guardian named in a parent's will has priority. The court may also appoint a standby guardian for a child whose parent is chronically ill or near death, whose authority starts only on the parent's death, incapacity, or debilitation with consent.

The person alleged to be incapacitated, or anyone interested in his or her welfare, may file a verified petition with specific allegations about the areas in which the person cannot make or communicate responsible decisions. The court sets a hearing, may appoint an attorney, guardian ad litem, physician and visitor, and the person may attend, present evidence and cross-examine witnesses. The court may appoint a guardian only if satisfied by clear and convincing evidence that the person is incapacitated and the appointment is the least restrictive alternative available; the guardianship must be limited unless clear and convincing evidence shows a full guardianship is necessary.

An alleged father's signed, notarized acknowledgment creates a rebuttable presumption of paternity. Any signer may rescind within the earlier of 60 days or the date of an administrative or court proceeding about the child (such as a support case) in which the signer is a party. After that, the acknowledgment is a legal finding of paternity that can be set aside only for fraud, duress or material mistake of fact, or by a man who shows through reliable genetic testing that he is the biological father and the acknowledged father is not (for challenges filed on or after April 15, 2026, only a man also seeking to establish his own paternity may bring this kind of challenge). Support obligations generally continue during a challenge.

A person files a petition in the district court of the county where he or she lives, stating that he or she has been a bona fide resident of that county for at least one year, along with address, date of birth, the reason for the change and the new name. Notice of the filing must be published in a county newspaper once a week for two consecutive weeks, unless the court waives it because notice would endanger the petitioner. The court orders the change after proof in open court that the allegations are true and there is proper and reasonable cause.

Anyone under 19 is a minor, but a person who marries before 19 is no longer a minor. People 18 or older (who are not state wards) can sign binding contracts and leases, financing documents and real estate deeds, and can consent to their own mental health services.

The Nebraska Judicial Branch's self-help pages give free forms with instructions for a simple divorce with children and a simple divorce with no children. For a divorce with children the forms include the Complaint for Dissolution of Marriage (DC 6:5.1), Voluntary Appearance (DC 6:4.3), Praecipe for Summons (DC 6:4.4), Answer and Counterclaim for Dissolution of Marriage (DC 10:1), Certificate of Completion of Parenting Education Course (DC 6:5.5), Notice of Hearing (DC 6:4.5), Financial Affidavit for Child Support (DC 6:5.2), Decree of Dissolution of Marriage (DC 6:5.3) and three parenting plan forms (DC 6:5.37, 6:5.38, 6:5.39), plus the Vital Statistics Certificate, Request to Proceed Without Payment of Court Fees, and Confidential Employment and Health Insurance Information. Forms are filed with the clerk of the district court. The page also points to Legal Aid of Nebraska's free automated question-and-answer Family Law Self-Help Forms.

Nebraska Child Support is run by the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). It locates parents, establishes paternity, establishes court orders for child and medical support, enforces child, spousal and medical support orders, and modifies orders on request. Apply online (about 20 minutes) or with the paper Application for Child Support Services; have Social Security numbers and birth dates, any existing court order and the children's health insurance information ready. Parents can make payments, request payment history and request an order change through the program's pages, and log in at My Nebraska Child Support Account. Customer service call center: 1-877-631-9973, option 2 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central, Monday through Friday).

The Nebraska Judicial Branch's Child Support self-help page links the Nebraska Child Support Guidelines, including the child support worksheets, and a child support calculator designed by Advanced Legal Software (Omaha). The court says the calculator is provided with the developer's permission for people representing themselves and is free for 30 days.