Atlanta Divorce Lawyer's Guide to Grounds for Divorce - Intermarriage
In Georgia, parties cannot obtain a divorce except on one of 13 grounds allowed by law. OCGA §19-5-3. The first ground under the statute is “[i]ntermarriage by persons within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity.” OCGA §19-5-3(1).
In Georgia, the prohibited degrees of relation are father and daughter/stepdaughter, mother and son/stepson, brother and sister (whole or half), grandparent and grandchild, aunt and nephew, or uncle and niece. OCGA §19-3-3(a). These marriages are void from their inception. OCGA §19-3-3(b). It should be noted that if a person marries another person to whom he/she knows is related, by blood or marriage, within one of these prohibited degrees, that person is subject to imprisonment. OCGA §19-3-3(a).
Because these marriages are void from inception, with this ground a person may get an annulment or a divorce. However, “where children are born or are to be born as a result of the marriage,” an annulment cannot be granted and the parties must pursue divorce. OCGA §19-4-1.
