Grounds For Divorce
Glen Burnie, Annapolis, and Anne Arundel County, Maryland
In Maryland, you need a reason to get an absolute divorce. These reasons fall into two categories, fault based grounds and non-fault based grounds. The person asking the Court for the divorce must also show corroboration, meaning some proof other than their own testimony that proves the grounds for divorce. Corroboration is required to make sure a husband and wife do not collude together to make up grounds for divorce in order to trick the Court into granting them a quick divorce when they are not legally entitled to one.
Adultery Adultery is defined by case law as voluntary intercourse between a man and a woman, with a person other than the offenders spouse. Adultery is also a crime in Maryland, punishable by a fine of $10.00.
Adultery can be difficult to prove because by its very nature, it most often happens in secret. The person trying to prove adultery must prove both opportunity and disposition. This means the Court must be convinced the other spouse had the chance to commit the adultery (opportunity) and the inclination to commit adultery (disposition).
Desertion Desertion involves two concepts:
Actual Desertion: when one spouse leaves the marital home with no intention of returning. If the desertion lasts more than 12 months prior to the filing of the lawsuit, it is grounds for an Absolute Divorce. If the desertion has not yet lasted 12 months, it is only grounds for a Limited Divorce.
Constructive Desertion: when a persons conduct compels the other to leave in order to preserve his or her health, safety or self-respect.
Imprisonment If one spouse has been convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor under the laws of Maryland or any other state in the United States, and been sentenced to serve at least three years or an indeterminate sentence in any penal institution, 12 month of which sentence have already been served at the time of the filing of the lawsuit, this can be grounds for a divorce.
12 Month Separation This is the most common grounds for divorce in Maryland. If the parties have been separated continuously for 12 months prior to the filing of the divorce complaint (which means no sexual relations and no sleeping in the same house) and there is no reasonable hope or expectation of a reconciliation, the Court can grant an Absolute Divorce. There is no requirement that the separation be voluntary by both spouses, and in fact this means the separation was not agreed upon by one of the spouses. When one spouse still wants to be married, and does not agree with the separation, this can be the fallback no-fault ground some people rely upon for their divorce.
Insanity If one spouse is incurably insane with no hope of recovery, as determined by the court from the testimony of at least two physicians who are competent in psychiatry, and the insane person was confined in a mental institution, hospital or other similar institution for a period of not less than three years prior to filing for divorce, this can be a grounds for divorce.
Cruelty of treatment and Excessively Vicious Conduct
While these grounds are technically separate grounds, in the modern appellate case law, they are treated as one in the same.
Cruelty of Treatment Toward a Complaining Party or to a Minor Child of that Complaining Party and Excessively Vicious Conduct Toward a Complaining Party or to a Minor Child of that Complaining Party is any conduct on the party of the husband or wife which is calculated to seriously impair the health or permanently destroy the happiness of the other, or of a minor child. Thus, any misconduct of the husband/wife that endangers, or creates a reasonable apprehension that it will endanger the wifes/husbands safety or health to a degree rendering it physically or mentally impracticable for her to properly discharge the marital duties constitutes cruelty within the meaning of the divorce statute.
Both are grounds for a Limited Divorce and for an Absolute Divorce. The modern interpretation of these causes of action has changed dramatically in the past few decades, and now reflects the contemporary view that any family violence is intolerable. Physical violence is often coupled with mental abuse, but physical violence alone can justify the Court granting a divorce on these grounds.’