GROUNDS FOR DIVORCE

There are seven grounds and at least one must be proven as taken from Maryland Divorce Law § 7-103 Family Law:

·         Adultery - Spouse must prove that the other engaged in sexual relations with a third party.  Evidence can include proof that the offending spouse had the opportunity and means for extra-marital intercourse. 

·         Desertion - When one spouse abandons the marriage without the consent of the other and without justification.  To claim desertion, the desertion must have continued for 12 months without interruption before the filing of the application for divorce; the desertion is deliberate and final; and there is not reasonable expectation of reconciliation.

·         Separation - If the parties have lived separate and apart without cohabitation for 12 months without interruption before the filing of the application for divorce and there is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation.

·         Conviction of a felony or misdemeanor in any state or any court of the United States if before the filing of the application for divorce the defendant has been sentenced to serve at least 3 years or an indeterminate sentence in a penal institution; and served 12 months of the sentence.

·         Insanity - Permanent and incurable.  For a person to be considered permanently insane they must be confined to a mental institution, hospital or other similar institution for at least 3 years prior to the filing of the application for divorce.  The court determines from the testimony of at least two physicians who are competent in psychiatry that the insanity is incurable, there is no hope of recovery, and one of the parties has been a resident of the State for at least 2 years before the filing of the application for divorce.

·         Cruelty of treatment toward the complaining party or a minor child of the complaining party, if there is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation.

·         Excessively vicious conduct toward the complaining party or a minor child of the complaining party, if there is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation.  There is no waiting period for these grounds and the spouse may file immediately. 

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