Grounds for a divorce in Georgia
Georgia is a “no-fault” divorce state, so you can get a divorce based solely on the grounds that the marriage is irretrievably broken. When a marriage is irretrievably broken, the parties are unable to work out the differences in their marriage and they feel that their only option is to file for divorce. The party that is filing for divorce is not blaming the other party for the break-up of their marriage and it is neither party’s fault that they are divorcing. In some cases, people may want the divorce over fairly quickly and/or feel it may upset their spouse and it could cause problems during the divorce process if they list anything except irretrievably broken as a grounds for divorce.
One of the disadvantages to claiming irreconcilable differences as the ground for divorce is that it may not encompass the real reason for the divorce. Even though a lot of the divorces end because of irreconcilable differences, there are some cases when it is the opposing party’s conduct or behavior that causes problems in the marriage. If someone decides to choose one of the “fault grounds” in Georgia, there are ten additional grounds for divorce that that they can choose from that are based on the past or present behavior of their spouse. These grounds fall into two separate categories – conduct at the time of marriage and conduct during the marriage, which are set forth below:
1. The following grounds for divorce occurred at the time of the parties’ marriage:
a
. Mental incapacity at the time of the marriage;
b. Impotency at the time of the marriage; and
c. Force, menace, duress or fraud in obtaining the marriage;
2. The following grounds for divorce occurred after the parties’ marriage:
a
. Pregnancy of the wife by a man other than the husband, at the time of the marriage, unknown to husband;
b. Adultery in either of the parties after the marriage;
c. Willful and continued desertion by either of the parties for the term of one year;
d. The conviction of either party for an offense involving moral turpitude, under which he or she is sentenced to imprisonment in a penal institution for a term of two years or longer;
e. Habitual intoxication;
f. Habitual drug addiction of a controlled substance; and
g. Cruel treatment, which shall consist of the willful infliction of pain, bodily or mental, upon the complaining party, such as reasonably justifies apprehension of danger to life, limb or health.
There are also two additional grounds for divorce, which do not fall into either of the above-listed categories. The first ground is intermarriage by persons within the prohibited degreees of consanguity or affinity. The second ground is incurable mental illness. To be able to claim this ground, you will need to show proof to the judge that a court of competent jurisdiction has adjudged that your spouse is mentally ill or your spouse has been certified mentally ill by two physicians who have personally examined him or her.
