Grounds for divorce (United States)

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Grounds for divorce are regulations specifying the circumstances under which a person will be granted a divorce.[1] Each state in the United States has its own set of grounds.[2] A person must state the reason they want a divorce at a divorce trial and be able to prove that this reason is well-founded.[3] Several states require that the couple must live apart for several months before being granted a divorce.[4] However, living apart is not accepted as grounds for a divorce in many states.[5]

In the United States married couples are allowed to end a marriage by filing for a divorce on the grounds of either fault or no fault.[6] In the past, most states only granted divorces on fault grounds, but today all states have adopted the no fault divorce.[7] Fault and no-fault divorces each require that specific grounds be met.[8] A no fault divorce can be granted on grounds such as irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, irreconcilable differences, incompatibility, or after a period of separation, depending on the state. Neither party is held responsible for the failure of the marriage. On the other hand, in fault divorces one party is asking for a divorce because they claim the other party did something wrong that justifies ending the marriage.[7] Several grounds for fault divorce include adultery, cruelty, abandonment, mental illness, and criminal conviction.[7] There are, however, additional grounds that are acceptable in some states such as drug abuse, impotency, and religious reasons.[9]

While there are various grounds for divorce across the United States, there are also defenses that can be raised in response to many divorce claims.[9] These defenses include insufficiency of evidence that the spouse in fact engaged in the conduct cited (or, more strongly, the presence of affirmative evidence to the contrary), acceptance of the alleged conduct at the time when it was engaged in ("condonation"), the complaining party's having engaged in similar conduct of his/her own ("recrimination"), and absence of or insufficiency of evidence proving other conditions invoked as grounds (e.g., insufficient length of separation or presence of a chance of reconciliation).[9]

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  1. ^ "Grounds for Divorce Law &Legal Definition". USLegal. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
  2. ^ The World Book Encyclopedia (2002 ed.). Chicago: World Book. 1988. p. 253. ISBN 0-7166-0102-8.
  3. ^ Gross, James J.; Callahan, Michael F. (2006). File for divorce in Maryland, Virginia or the District of Columbia (2nd ed.). Naperville, Ill.: Sphinx Pub. p. 51. ISBN 1-57248-536-1.
  4. ^ Statsky, William P. (2004). Family law : the essentials (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Thomas/Delmar Learning. p. 89. ISBN 1-4018-4827-3.
  5. ^ Statsky, William P. (2004). Family law: the essentials (2nd ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Thomas/Delmar Learning. p. 89. ISBN 1-4018-4827-3.
  6. ^ Loveless, Scott (2007). The family in the new millennium (1. publ. ed.). Westport, Conn. [u.a.]: Praeger. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-275-99240-8.
  7. ^ a b c Choudhri, Nikara K. (2004). The complete guide to divorce law. New York: Citadel Press. p. 7. ISBN 0-8065-2528-2.
  8. ^ Ventura, John; Reed, Mary (2009). Divorce for dummies (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-470-41151-3.
  9. ^ a b c Choudrhi, Nihara K. (2004). The Complete Guide to Divorce Law (1st ed.). New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp. p. 10. ISBN 0-8065-2528-2.