Georgia Divorce

Grounds for Divorce in Georgia:

Georgia allows “no-fault” divorce, which essentially allows one spouse or another to claim that the marriage is irretrievably broken and there’s no hope of salvaging it. You can also engage in a divorce where a party is at fault but consider both options carefully before choosing one or the other. 

Thus, the most common ground for divorce is irreconcilable differences, meaning no one is at fault for the marriage's failure.  In other words, neither party must prove the other one was at fault for the marriage's failure.  However, other grounds may also be invoked.  There are twelve (12) other fault-based grands for divorce.  

These grounds include:

1. Intermarriage by persons within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity.
2. Mental incapacity at the time of the marriage.
3. Impotency at the time of marriage.
4. Force, menace, duress, or fraud in obtaining the marriage.
5. Pregnancy of the wife by a man other than the husband, at the time of the marriage, unknown by the husband.
6. Adultery in either of the parties after the marriage.
7. Willful and continued desertion by either of the parties for a term of one year.
8. The conviction of either party for an offense involving moral turpitude and under which he or she is sentenced to imprisonment in a penal institution for a term of two years of longer.
9. Habitual intoxication.
10. Cruel treatment.
11. Incurable mental illness.
12. Habitual drug addiction.

Requirements to file:

Residency: Georgia courts require at least one spouse must have been a Georgia resident for at least six months prior to filing for divorce.  If neither spouse meets these requirements, then you’ll have to wait until one of you has reached that threshold, and then you will be allowed to start the divorce process. 

Waiting Period:   Georgia courts will not grant a divorce less than 30 days after the divorce papers were served to the non-filing spouse, even if both spouses agree to the divorce sooner.  The reason behind this "cool down" period is to allow couples an opportunity to gather their emotions as all couples go through frustrating times.
 

No-fault divorce can be an excellent option depending on your situation.  It’s important that you understand the differences between the two types of divorce to help you decide which one is going to work best for you. Your attorney can explain the differences, or you can look at our no-fault divorce article which outlines the characteristics.

Just because both parties want a divorce does not mean the matter is uncontested. While it may make the process easier if both parties agree to this ultimate outcome, this is not what attorneys are referring to when they ask whether a matter is uncontested.  Instead, an uncontested divorce means that the parties have come to an agreement regarding all of the four major items related to a divorce:

1.   Child Custody

2.  Child Support

3.  Alimony

4.  Equitable Division of Assets and Liabilities

Another common misconception about an uncontested divorce is that since you have a general idea about how to resolve an issue that means the matter is uncontested. While it is helpful to have general guidelines for how the parties desire to resolve a divorce, it is equally important to understand that the devil is in the details.

A simple example, in terms of child custody, may be that the parties have agreed that the father shall be the primary physical custodian for the minor children. Unfortunately, that does not fully address the subject matter of child custody. A visitation plan must still be put in place, minor details such as who is responsible for driving the children, how holidays and summer vacations will be handled, and who has ultimate responsibility for decisions related to the minor children (along with a host of others) must still be put into place before a matter will truly be considered uncontested.

Based upon our experience, often these minor details can be worked out with relative ease if the parties already have a general framework for the resolution of their divorce. That said, there are a number of cases over the years where the parties find what appeared to be a general agreement does not exactly work out that way when we get into various required details in the divorce.

If you and your spouse are making progress trying to work out the matter on your own, it is still advisable that you seek legal counsel to better understand all of the finer points that must be addressed in your divorce agreement. With a little guidance and perspective, we can help not only highlight the remaining issues that need to be worked out prior to proceeding forward with an uncontested divorce, but we can also offer helpful solutions for addressing differences that may arise. As attorneys that focus exclusively on divorce matters, we have seen numerous examples of these exact situations being addressed before and can offer helpful solutions to allow you to reach the ultimate result of an uncontested divorce.

As an aside, please also don’t forget that just because a matter initially appears contested, it does not have to remain that way. Through various alternatives to trial, such as mediation, the parties can narrow their differences and often cause a contested matter to become uncontested.

Finally, regardless of how your reach your uncontested agreement, it is important to retain counsel to review your proposed plan, offer suggestions for changes, and to ultimately draft all of the necessary paperwork to facilitate the filing of the uncontested divorce matter.