KRS 403.190: Disposition of property.

(1) In a proceeding for dissolution of the marriage or for legal separation, or in a

proceeding for disposition of property following dissolution of the marriage by a

court which lacked personal jurisdiction over the absent spouse or lacked

jurisdiction to dis pose of the property, the court shall assign each spouse's property

to him. It also shall divide the marital property without regard to marital misconduct

in just proportions considering all relevant factors including:

(a) Contribution of each spouse to ac quisition of the marital property, including

contribution of a spouse as homemaker;

(b) Value of the property set apart to each spouse;

(c) Duration of the marriage; and

(d) Economic circumstances of each spouse when the division of property is to

become effective, including the desirability of awarding the family home or

the right to live therein for reasonable periods to the spouse having custody of

any children.

(2) For the purpose of this chapter, "marital property" means all property acquired by

either spouse subsequent to the marriage except:

(a) Property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or descent during the marriage and

the income derived therefrom unless there are significant activities of either

spouse which contributed to the increase in value o f said property and the

income earned therefrom;

(b) Property acquired in exchange for property acquired before the marriage or in

exchange for property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or descent;

(c) Property acquired by a spouse after a decree of legal separation;

(d) Property excluded by valid agreement of the parties; and

(e) The increase in value of property acquired before the marriage to the extent

that such increase did not result from the efforts of the parties during

marriage.

(3) All property acquired by either spouse after the marriage and before a decree of

legal separation is presumed to be marital property, regardless of whether title is

held individually or by the spouses in some form of co -ownership such as joint

tenancy, tenancy in common, tenancy by the entirety, and community property. The

presumption of marital property is overcome by a showing that the property was

acquired by a method listed in subsection (2) of this section.

(4) If the retirement benefits of one spouse are excepted from classification as marital

property, or not considered as an economic circumstance during the division of

marital property, then the retirement benefits of the other spouse shall also be

excepted, or not considered, as the case may be. However, the lev el of exception

provided to the spouse with the greater retirement benefit shall not exceed the level

of exception provided to the other spouse. Retirement benefits, for the purposes of

this subsection shall include retirement or disability allowances, acc umulated

contributions, or any other benefit of a retirement system or plan regulated by the

Employees Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, or of a public retirement

system administered by an agency of a state or local government, including deferred

compensation plans created pursuant to KRS 18A.230 to 18A.275 or defined

contribution or money purchase plans qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal

Revenue Code of 1954, as amended.