LEGAL GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE IN GEORGIA

There are 12 grounds for divorce in Georgia. Stating your reason (grounds for divorce) is a mandatory part of your paperwork to file for divorce. You must cite at least one of the established grounds for divorce however: you can cite multiple reasons. You will not need to go into a lot of detail to explain or prove your stated grounds for divorce. Irreconcilable Differences is probably the most common choice. Generally speaking how you file will not affect the outcome nearly as much as the details of your relationship.

The 12 Legal Grounds For Divorce In Georgia

In Georgia there are 12 legal grounds for divorce. Each has specific legal qualifications that must be met in order to claim the particular ground for divorce.

  1. Adultery is sexual relations outside of the marriage by either husband or wife. This may not apply in open marriages.
  2. Irretrievably broken (irreconcilable differences or no-fault divorce) is an option if it is agreed to by both parties. Often, on these grounds, a final divorce decree can be obtained in as little as 30 days.
  3. Habitual intoxication or addiction applies when a spouse is alcoholic, drug or substance abuser and has made no efforts to resolve their addiction problems.
  4. Mental incapacity at the time of the marriage. This generally claims that you or your spouse were incoherent or mentally incapable of clear thinking at the time of the ceremony. This can include people with known mental disorders, being severely intoxicated or under the influence of drugs, or similar conditions at the time of the marriage.
  5. Force or fraud used to cause the marriage. This includes using any means to get your spouse to marry you when they may not otherwise be inclined to do so.
  6. Pregnancy of the wife by another man prior to the wedding and unknown to the husband.
  7. Impotency, the chronic inability to perform sexually, at the time of the marriage and you were unaware of this condition.
  8. Cruel treatment applies when there is verifiable physical or mental abuse.
  9. Intermarriage by persons with close blood lines wherein the relationships between the husband and wife which would generally qualify as incest.
  10. Conviction of any crime involving moral turpitude which results in incarceration of two or more years.
  11. Incurable mental illness, although very difficult to validate, requires testimony from at least two physicians or psychiatric professionals, and a history of being institutionalized.
  12. Willful desertion applies if either party leaves the marriage, with no intent of returning to the marriage, for a period of one year or longer.