Filing for divorce generally includes (1) filing the necessary paperwork with the appropriate state or county court; (2) paying the filing fee; and (3) having the paperwork properly served on (handed to) your spouse—known as service of process.

This paperwork generally consists of a complaint or petition that includes the names of the spouses, the grounds for the divorce (fault or no-fault), whether there are children involved in the marriage, and whether the spouse is seeking child custody, child support, or spousal support.

A spouse generally may file for divorce in the state and county in which the spouse resides—or in which the other spouse resides. In many states the spouse must have lived in the state or county for a specified period of time before filing for divorce. Laws regarding this residency requirement and where a lawsuit for divorce may be filed vary from state to state and with circumstances in which the spouses share minor children.

Laws regarding the requirements for filing for divorce are usually located in a state’s statutes—often in the family code or domestic relations code.

In Alaska, the process of filing for divorce involves submitting the necessary legal documents to the appropriate court, which is typically the Superior Court in the area where the filing spouse resides. The initial document is usually a petition for the dissolution of marriage, which outlines the basic information about the marriage, the grounds for divorce (Alaska allows for both fault and no-fault divorces), and any requests regarding child custody, child support, or spousal support. There is also a filing fee that must be paid upon submission of the paperwork. After filing, the other spouse must be formally served with the divorce papers, a process known as 'service of process.' To file for divorce in Alaska, at least one spouse must be a resident of the state, but there is no minimum duration for this residency requirement before filing. If the spouses have minor children, additional forms and considerations regarding custody and support may be necessary. The specific statutes governing divorce in Alaska can be found in the Alaska Statutes, Title 25, which covers marital and domestic relations.