Nebraska

All states

Luck of the Draw score: 75 out of 100

Nebraska judges divide marital property and set alimony by what is reasonable, usually giving each spouse between one-third and one-half of the marital estate, and they may not weigh who was at fault. Fee awards are left to the judge’s discretion. On the book’s scale, 0 is a contract you can read and 100 is one that mostly says “ask the judge.” Nebraska ranks 25 of 51, counting from the state that leaves the least to the judge. How the index works, and every state’s score.

Part	Score	The rule, and where it comes from
Property	15 / 20	The court divides the marital estate ‘as may be reasonable’ under statutory criteria, and the Nebraska Supreme Court’s general rule is to award a spouse one-third to one-half of the marital estate, with nonmarital property generally set aside. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-365; Ragains v. Ragains, 204 Neb. 50 (1979); Gibilisco v. Gibilisco, 263 Neb. 27 (2002) (as annotated)
Alimony	20 / 20	Alimony is ordered ‘as may be reasonable, having regard for’ listed circumstances, with no formula or durational limit. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-365
Fault	0 / 20	The Nebraska Supreme Court held that the 1972 no-fault law removed misconduct as a factor in alimony, and it upheld a trial court’s refusal to hear evidence of responsibility for the breakdown when dividing property and awarding alimony. Else v. Else, 219 Neb. 878 (1985); Ragains v. Ragains, 204 Neb. 50 (1979)
Lawyers’ fees	20 / 20	The award of attorney’s fees in a dissolution action is discretionary with the trial court and depends on all the circumstances, including the property division, alimony, earning capacity and the general equities. Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-351(1); Ragains v. Ragains, 204 Neb. 50 (1979)
Second opinion	20 / 20	No rule was found that lets a divorce party remove the assigned judge without cause, and property and alimony are decided by the judge without a jury. None located (not yet checked against the source)

Getting in

No waiting period. A county clerk issues the license for a $50 fee after each person swears to the application and shows documents proving name, residence and birth date, and anyone under 19 needs written parental or guardian consent (minimum age 17). There is no waiting period, and the license must be used within one year.
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 42-104, 33-110, 42-102, 42-105, 43-2101

Who can marry you. Judges, retired judges, clerk magistrates, retired clerk magistrates, preachers authorized by their church, and religious societies marrying their own members may officiate, and two witnesses must attend. The statute does not address online ordination, but under § 42-114 a marriage stands if the officiant purported to be a minister and either spouse believed it lawful.
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 42-108, 42-109, 42-114, 42-115; State v. Johnson, 310 Neb. 527, 967 N.W.2d 242 (2021)

Common-law marriage: Not available here. A couple cannot form a common-law marriage in Nebraska; the courts have refused to recognize them since 1923. Marriages valid where contracted are valid in Nebraska, but Nebraska residents cannot create a common-law marriage through temporary stays in a state that allows one.
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 42-104, 42-117; Binger v. Binger, 158 Neb. 444, 63 N.W.2d 784 (1954)

Chapter 5 of the book covers getting in, and whether you are in at all.

The property system

Nebraska is one of forty-one equitable distribution jurisdictions. Equitable distribution. Each of you owns what’s in your own name during the marriage. At a divorce a judge divides the marital property as the judge finds equitable, which is not a promise of half. Chapter 11 of the book covers what that means, and Chapter 22 covers what happens to it when you move.

What counts as marital. Property acquired during the marriage is generally marital, while premarital property, gifts and inheritances are not, and the judge picks valuation dates rationally related to the property rather than a fixed cutoff. Growth in separate property is presumed marital unless the owner proves it is traceable and not due to either spouse’s active efforts.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-365; Backhaus v. Backhaus, 318 Neb. 891 (2025); Rohde v. Rohde, 303 Neb. 85, 927 N.W.2d 37 (2019); Parde v. Parde, 313 Neb. 779 (2023)

An inheritance that touches a joint account

It can stay separate if you can trace it. An inheritance is presumed nonmarital, the spouse claiming it carries the burden of proof, and it becomes marital by commingling if inextricably mixed with marital property but not if it stays segregated or can be traced. In Backhaus (2025), inherited money in a joint savings account stayed nonmarital.
Doerr v. Doerr, 306 Neb. 350 (2020); Backhaus v. Backhaus, 318 Neb. 891 (2025)

Chapter 12 explains how mine becomes ours.

Your spouse’s medical bills (Article 5)

The spouse who got the care pays first. By statute a married woman’s non-exempt property is liable for debts for necessaries furnished to the family only after execution against the husband has been returned unsatisfied; case law holds the husband primarily liable and treats a husband’s medical care as a family necessary for which the wife may be liable on that secondary basis.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-201; Nichol v. Clema, 188 Neb. 74 (1972); Scott v. House, 93 Neb. 325 (1913)

Chapter 8 of the book explains the three ways states handle this.

If one of you dies (Article 9)

The surviving spouse may elect up to one-half of the augmented estate (1969 UPC model), which adds back to the probate estate transfers during marriage with retained enjoyment or revocation power, joint-and-survivorship property, and gifts within three years of death above $3,000 per donee per year, and counts the survivor’s own property derived from the decedent.
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 30-2313, 30-2314

Chapter 9 covers what a will can and can’t take away from a spouse.

Prenups and postnups (Article 12)

One look, under UPAA (1983), Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 42-1001 to -1011. A premarital agreement is unenforceable only if the challenger proves it was not signed voluntarily, or that it was unconscionable when executed and the challenger lacked fair and reasonable disclosure, did not waive disclosure in writing, and had no adequate knowledge of the other’s finances.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-1006

What an agreement needs. The agreement must be in writing and signed by both parties; no notarization, witnesses, waiting period, or counsel requirement applies, though courts weigh proximity to the wedding and access to independent counsel in deciding voluntariness. If a support waiver would make a spouse eligible for public assistance at separation or divorce, the court may order support to the extent needed to avoid that.
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 42-1003, 42-1006(2)

Chapter 29 explains one look and two, and what makes agreements stick.

Children (Article 8)

Child support: income shares. Nebraska combines both parents’ net incomes, reads the support amount from a table, and assigns each parent a share by percentage of income. Support ends when the child reaches 19, marries, dies or is emancipated by a court, unless the order says otherwise, and a judge cannot order support past majority without the parents’ agreement.
Neb. Ct. R. §§ 4-201, 4-206, 4-207; Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 42-371.01, 43-2101; Wood v. Wood, 266 Neb. 580, 667 N.W.2d 235 (2003); Zetterman v. Zetterman, 245 Neb. 255, 512 N.W.2d 622 (1994)

Moving away with a child. Case law, not statute, governs a move out of state, and these cases set no notice period. The custodial parent must get the court’s permission by showing a legitimate reason for leaving and then that living with them in the new location serves the child’s best interests.
McLaughlin v. McLaughlin, 264 Neb. 232, 647 N.W.2d 577 (2002); Farnsworth v. Farnsworth, 257 Neb. 242, 597 N.W.2d 592 (1999); Steffy v. Steffy, 287 Neb. 529, 843 N.W.2d 655 (2014)

Chapter 17 covers the children.

Getting out (Article 2)

How long you must live here before filing: one year. One spouse must have lived in Nebraska for at least one year before filing, intending to make it their permanent home, unless the marriage was performed in Nebraska and either spouse has lived there since the wedding. Military members stationed in the state for one year count as residents.
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 42-349

How long it takes. The judge only has to find the marriage irretrievably broken, even if one spouse denies it, but no case can be heard until 60 days after service. The decree becomes final and operative 30 days after entry, or six months after entry for marrying someone else or continuing health insurance.
Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 42-361, 42-363, 42-372.01, 42-347(3); Else v. Else, 219 Neb. 878, 367 N.W.2d 701 (1985)

The legal minimum for a spouse who moves here alone and files as soon as allowed, with no minor children and the other spouse objecting, is about 455 days from arrival to a final decree (365 days of residence + 60-day wait after service + 30 until the decree is final and operative (decree entered at day 425; same-day service assumed)). Courts often take longer.

If you moved here from another state

The old state’s law has classified land there. In 2004 the Nebraska Court of Appeals used Washington law to decide whether a Seattle house a husband owned before the marriage was separate property, after the couple moved here. Both sides had argued from Washington law.
Quinn v. Quinn, 13 Neb. App. 155 (2004)

Chapter 22 covers what changes when you move.

Each entry on this page comes from the statute, rule or case it cites, read in September or November 2026, except where the entry says it has not been checked. A rule can change after that, and a rule on paper can play out differently in a particular courthouse. No lawyer reviews these pages.

If you practice family law in Nebraska and would like to correct or contribute to this page, write to me.

Meanwhile

• The default contract, with the options states choose among. Read it with a Nebraska lawyer, or paste it into a chatbot along with “I live in Nebraska” and treat what comes back as a list of questions, not answers.
• Three contracts you could sign instead.
• A worksheet for reading it together, and every state’s Luck of the Draw score.
• Corrections, including changes in the law since the book went to press.
• About the book.