What are the grounds for divorce in Georgia?
Key Takeaways
- Georgia is a fault-based divorce state. This means one spouse has to prove that the other is at fault for the divorce.
- There are 13 grounds for divorce in Georgia, including that the marriage is irretrievably broken, adultery, cruel treatment and willful and continued desertion.
- In order for a divorce to be granted under the “irretrievably broken” ground, the parties must wait at least 30 days from when the defendant-spouse is served the paperwork.
Georgia is a fault-based divorce state. This means one spouse needs to cite at least one ground (or reason) for their requested divorce. Most often, a fault-based divorce places blame on one of the spouses due to their misconduct or other wrongdoing.
The person filing for divorce (the plaintiff) must cite a ground for divorce in their petition for divorce. The 13 grounds for divorce in Georgia are:
- Intermarriage by persons within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity or affinity.
- Mental incapacity at the time of the marriage
- Impotency at the time of the marriage.
- Force, menace, duress, or fraud in obtaining the marriage.
- Pregnancy of the wife by a man other than the husband, at the time of the marriage, unknown to the husband.
- Adultery in either of the parties after marriage
- Willful and continued desertion by either of the parties for the term of one year.
- The conviction of either party for an offense involving moral turpitude, under which he is sentenced to imprisonment in a penal institution for a term of two years or longer.
- Habitual intoxication.
- Cruel treatment (the willful infliction of bodily or mental pain upon the complaining party, such as reasonably justifies apprehension of danger to life, limb or health).
- Incurable mental illness (the spouse must be examined by and certified mentally ill by two physicians and have been in an institution or under continuous treatment for mental illness for at least two years).
- Habitual drug addiction.
- The marriage is irretrievably broken (meaning a couple’s disagreements that are so substantial that the marriage can’t be saved).
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Does Georgia allow no-fault divorce?
Ground 13, that the marriage is irretrievably broken, is the only no-fault ground for divorce recognized in Georgia. In this instance, the couple agrees there’s no hope of reconciliation and seek to resolve things with minimal conflict. Neither party blames the other, so neither has to defend itself. This can reduce the tension of a divorce and allow each party to focus on taking care of themself, taking care of their family and working to negotiate a divorce agreement.
Note, however, that while a no-fault divorce is typically faster (and therefore less expensive) than a fault-based divorce, it still isn’t automatic. After the defendant is served with the divorce papers, the parties must wait at least 30 days before the court will finalize their divorce. It may take longer than 30 days if the parties can’t reach an agreement on all terms of the divorce.
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