Grounds for Absolute Divorce | The People's Law Library
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- Some fault grounds don’t require a waiting period and allow you to obtain a divorce immediately.
To obtain a fault-based divorce, you will have to prove that your spouse acted in certain ways. The fault grounds include: adultery,
desertion, conviction of a crime, insanity, cruelty of treatment, and excessively vicious conduct (this article discusses each of these grounds in more detail below)."
[h=3]Desertion[/h] Desertion is a “fault” ground for divorce, and therefore may be a factor in the award of alimony and custody. Desertion may be actual or "constructive."
Generally, in actual desertion, the deserting spouse abandons the marital home without justification. In "constructive" desertion, the person who leaves is justified and the court will consider the leaving spouse the deserted one.
To prove actual desertion, the spouse seeking the divorce must prove the following:
- The deserting spouse intended to end the marriage;
- Cohabitation (living together or having sexual intercourse) has ended;
- The deserter’s leaving was not justified;
- The parties are beyond any reasonable hope of reconciliation (making up);
- The deserted spouse did not consent to the desertion; and,
- The desertion has continued uninterrupted for 12 months.
A lawyer can best help determine whether these elements are present.