Rhode Island Divorce Laws: Residency, Waiting Period, Custody and Support

The person filing must have been domiciled in and lived in Rhode Island for one year before filing the divorce complaint. This is also satisfied if the other spouse has been domiciled in and lived in Rhode Island for one year before filing and is actually served. Residence immediately before military service continues during service and for 30 days after.

Rhode Island's no-fault grounds are irreconcilable differences that have caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage, and living separate and apart for at least three years. Fault grounds include impotency, adultery, extreme cruelty, willful desertion for five years (or less at the court's discretion), continued drunkenness, habitual drug use, a husband's neglect to provide necessaries for at least one year, and other gross misbehavior. A divorce is also decreed for a marriage that was void or voidable, or when a spouse is civilly dead or presumed dead.

A divorce judgment does not become final until three months after the trial and decision. The final judgment may then be entered on request of the prevailing party within the following 180 days; after that it must be entered in open court on motion or written consent. For divorces based on three years' separation, final judgment cannot be entered until 20 days after the decision. The Family Court's Guide and File page says the Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment must be filed within 30 days of the decision date and the Final Judgment cannot be filed until three months after it.

Chapter 15-5 of the General Laws does not include a separate summary or simplified divorce procedure. After a judicial officer grants a divorce, the Family Court's online Guide and File interview produces the two forms needed to finish it: the Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment (filed within 30 days of the decision) and the Final Judgment (filed after the three-month waiting period). The divorce is not final until both are filed and signed by a judicial officer.

Rhode Island uses equitable distribution: the court may assign to either spouse a portion of the other's estate after considering the length of the marriage, conduct during the marriage, contributions to acquiring, preserving or increasing the estates, homemaker contributions, health and age, income, occupation and employability, future opportunities, contributions to the other's education or earning power, the custodial parent's need for the marital home, and wasteful dissipation. The court may not assign property a spouse held before the marriage (though income from it and appreciation due to either spouse's efforts during the marriage may be assigned), or property received by inheritance or by gift from a third party. Property is assigned before alimony is decided.

The Family Court may order alimony after considering the length of the marriage, the parties' conduct, health, age, station, occupation, income, vocational skills, employability, assets, liabilities and needs, and whether a spouse cannot support themselves because of child care duties or time out of work for homemaking, the time and cost to get training, the standard of living, and the paying spouse's ability to pay. Alimony is meant to support a spouse for a reasonable time to become self-sufficient, but may be indefinite when appropriate. It ends automatically when the receiving spouse remarries and can be modified on petition.

The Family Court regulates custody based on the best interests of the children and must provide reasonable visitation for the parent without custody unless cause is shown. The fact that a parent receives public assistance may not be a factor in awarding custody. The custody statute does not list specific best-interest factors or a child's preference age.

Child support is set by a formula and guidelines adopted by Family Court administrative order; the court may deviate with written findings if the result would be inequitable. The court's Child Support Guideline Worksheet (form FC-78) combines both parents' adjusted gross income, finds the basic obligation from the child support table, and divides it by each parent's percentage share of income (an income shares approach). The worksheet must be filed with divorce complaints and related filings.

Yes. Rhode Island grants a divorce from bed and board (legal separation) for any cause for which a divorce may be granted and for other causes that seem to require it, if the petitioner is domiciled in Rhode Island and has lived there long enough in the court's discretion. The court may order separate maintenance.

Rhode Island law treats a marriage as absolutely void if either party was already married (or in an equivalent legal relationship) or was mentally incompetent at the time of the marriage, and prohibits marriage between close relatives. For any marriage originally void or voidable, the statute provides that a divorce is decreed.

A grandparent whose child has died may petition for reasonable visitation. Any grandparent may also petition the Family Court for visitation; the court must find in writing that visitation is in the child's best interest (considering the relationship, time spent together, benefits and harms, effect on the parent-child relationship, the child's preference if mature enough, and the parents' reasons), that the grandparent is fit, that the grandparent repeatedly tried to visit in the 30 days before filing and was refused by the parents, that there is no other way to visit, and that the grandparent rebutted by clear and convincing evidence the presumption that the parents' refusal was reasonable.

A person granted a divorce may, on request, be authorized by the divorce decree to change their name, even if there are children of the marriage.

Child support generally runs until a child turns 18. If the child is still attending high school at 18, the Family Court may order support and education costs to continue until 90 days after graduation, but never past the child's 19th birthday. The court may also order support beyond these limits for a child with a severe physical or mental impairment who still lives with or is cared for by a parent, if the disability began before the child would otherwise have been emancipated.

To open a case with the Rhode Island Office of Child Support Services (OCSS, part of the Department of Human Services), a parent completes the paper Application for Child Support Services and sends it with the required documents: a separate application for each non-custodial parent, a copy of each child's birth certificate, any divorce decree, and all current and previous child support orders. The application fee is $20 (personal check or money order), with no fee for families receiving Medicaid, RI Works or CCAP. Incomplete applications are returned. OCSS is at 77 Dorrance Street, Providence, RI 02903, (401) 458-4400.

OCSS enforcement is automated. Tools include: federal tax refund offset ($150 past-due, full-service cases); federal administrative offset of payments such as federal retirement ($25 and 30 days late); lottery intercept for winnings of $600 or more ($500 past-due); insurance intercept on settlements of $3,000 or more ($500 past-due); bank account matches and liens ($500 past-due); administrative liens on real and personal property; credit bureau reporting (with 10 days' notice); passport denial ($2,500 past-due); license suspension or revocation after 90 days' worth of unpaid support; motions to adjudge in contempt for willful nonpayment; body attachments (arrest) for failing to appear in court; and felony prosecution for owing $10,000 or more and willfully not paying for over three years (up to five years in prison). Past-due support accrues interest at 12% a year (1% a month).

After a support order is entered, either parent (or the state, on cases it handles) can file a petition asking the Family Court to review and change it. The court may change the amount only if it finds a substantial change in circumstances and must state the specific facts showing that change. A change can be made retroactive, at the court's discretion, only back to the date the other party was given notice of the petition. OCSS notes that an order keeps running, and arrears keep building, until it is modified or suspended by the Family Court.

A person suffering domestic abuse can file a complaint in Family Court for a protective order, which can include an award of custody of the parties' minor children. When the complaint is filed, the court may enter temporary orders, and if a sworn affidavit or verified complaint shows specific facts that immediate and irreparable harm will happen before notice and a hearing, the court can issue a temporary order without notice. An order entered without notice lasts no more than 21 days unless extended, and a hearing is set within a reasonable time. When the court is closed, a Family Court judge can grant emergency relief by telephone through law enforcement, which expires at the close of the next business day unless extended.

Divorce case files are kept by the Rhode Island Family Court. The Judiciary says the public records request process (APRA) does not apply to court case files, and copies should be requested from the clerk's office of the court where the case was filed. The Judiciary's public portal offers case information.

Get a license from the clerk of the city or town where either party lives (or, if both live outside Rhode Island, where the wedding will take place). Anyone previously married or in a civil union must show an authenticated copy of the divorce decree or dissolution. The license is valid for three months and must be returned if unused. The clerk charges a $14 license fee plus an additional $10 fee for the family and children trust fund. The marriage-license chapter sets no waiting period.

A marriage license may be granted only to a person who has reached 18. There is no exception for parental consent or court approval (law effective June 7, 2021).

A Rhode Island resident may petition the family court to adopt a person younger than themselves and under 18; a married petitioner's spouse must join unless the court finds good cause and that the adoption is in the child's best interest. Nonresidents may adopt only a child in the care of a governmental or licensed Rhode Island child-placing agency. Written consent of the parents (or the surviving parent) is required, and a child 14 or older must consent; a parent's rights can be terminated on grounds such as willful failure to provide care and maintenance for at least one year, unfitness, or abandonment (no contact for six months is prima facie evidence). The Department of Children, Youth and Families investigates the proposed home (with nationwide criminal records checks) and reports within 60 days, or the court may accept a licensed agency's home study. The child must generally live in the home for six months before the adoption is granted, though the court may waive this for good cause. Adoptions of adults are heard by the probate court.

When the petitioners are a parent and their spouse (or a grandparent) and the child lives with them, the noncustodial parent's refusal to consent does not end the case: the court may grant the adoption without that consent if the petitioners prove by clear and convincing evidence willful failure to provide care and maintenance for at least one year, unfitness, or abandonment. The petitioners do not have to show efforts to strengthen the child's relationship with the noncustodial parent. The court gives primary consideration to the child's needs.

The probate court of the city or town where the minor lives (or has legal settlement) may appoint a guardian of the person and/or estate of a minor when needed. A minor 14 or older may nominate their own guardian, who is appointed if the probate court approves.

Any person may file a verified petition with the probate court clerk in the city or town where the proposed ward lives. The petition must be based on a decision-making assessment tool, state whether a limited or full guardian is needed and which powers are requested, and describe steps taken to use less restrictive alternatives. A hearing before the probate judge is required; the respondent may attend, present evidence and cross-examine witnesses, and the standard of proof is clear and convincing evidence. The law favors the least restrictive form of guardianship so the person can participate as fully as possible in decisions.

The birth parent and the alleged genetic parent (or an intended or presumed parent) may sign an acknowledgment of parentage, witnessed by at least one other person, on the Department of Vital Records form; it is filed with the state registrar of vital records and is equivalent to a court adjudication. It may be signed before or after birth and takes effect at birth or filing, whichever is later. A signer may rescind by starting a court proceeding before the earlier of 60 days after it takes effect or the first court hearing about the child (including child support). After that, a signer may challenge it only for fraud, duress, coercion, threat of harm or material mistake of fact, within two years, by clear and convincing evidence. In a court parentage case, the court must order genetic testing on a supported sworn request, and the Office of Child Support Services can order testing administratively in support cases.

Name changes are handled by the probate court of the city or town, which has jurisdiction over changes of names of persons.

Divorce cases in Rhode Island are filed in Family Court. The Judiciary's statewide Complaint for Divorce or Divorce from Bed and Board (form FC-56) starts the case. After the divorce is granted, the Family Court's free Guide and File interview prepares the two forms needed to finish it: the Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment, filed within 30 days of the decision date, and the Final Judgment, filed no earlier than three months after the decision. Documents can be filed electronically, mailed to the Family Court clerk's office for your county (Newport, Kent, Washington or Providence/Bristol), or emailed to the virtual family clerk's office.

Rhode Island does not show an interactive online calculator on the Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) page; instead OCSS explains how support is calculated under the income shares model using the Child Support Guideline Worksheet and the guideline schedule (Administrative Order 23-02, effective July 1, 2023). The court looks at both parents' gross income, subtracts mandatory deductions (health insurance premiums, pre-existing child support, support of additional children, child care) and may consider discretionary deductions, uses the guideline chart for the number of children, and assigns each parent a percentage share; the non-custodial parent's monthly amount is converted to a weekly order (dividing by 4.3333) and is generally paid by wage withholding.