Title 19, Chapter 5, Section 3
( 19-5-3)
The following grounds shall be sufficient to authorize the granting
of a total divorce: (1) Intermarriage by persons within the prohibited degrees of
consanguinity or affinity; (2) Mental incapacity at the time of the marriage; (3) Impotency at the time of the 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 to the husband; (6) Adultery in either of the parties after marriage; (7) Willful and continued desertion by either of the parties for
the term of one year; (8) The conviction of either party for an offense involving moral
turpitude, under which he is sentenced to imprisonment in a penal
institution for a term of two years or longer; (9) Habitual intoxication; (10) Cruel treatment, which shall consist of the willful
infliction of pain, bodily or mental, upon the complaining party,
such as reasonably justifies apprehension of danger to life, limb,
or health; (11) Incurable mental illness. No divorce shall be granted upon
this ground unless the mentally ill party has been adjudged
mentally ill by a court of competent jurisdiction or has been
certified to be mentally ill by two physicians who have personally
examined the party; and he has been confined in an institution for
the mentally ill or has been under continuous treatment for mental
illness for a period of at least two years immediately preceding
the commencement of the action; and the superintendent or other
chief executive officer of the institution and one competent
physician appointed by the court, after a thorough examination,
make a certified statement under oath that it is their opinion
that the party evidences such a want of reason, memory, and
intelligence as to prevent the party from comprehending the
nature, duties, and consequences of the marriage relationship and
that, in the light of present day medical knowledge, recovery of
the party's mental health cannot be expected at any time during
his life. Notice of the action must be served upon the guardian of
the person of the mentally ill person and upon the superintendent
or other chief executive officer of the institution in which the
person is confined. In the event that there is no guardian of the
person, then notice of the action shall be served upon a guardian
ad litem, who shall be appointed by the court in which the divorce
action is filed, and upon the superintendent or chief executive
officer of the institution in which the person is confined. The
guardian and superintendent shall be entitled to appear and be
heard upon the issues. The status of the parties as to the support
and maintenance of the mentally ill person shall not be altered in
any way by the granting of the divorce; (12) Habitual drug addiction, which shall consist of addiction to
any controlled substance as defined in Article 2 of Chapter 13 of
Title 16; (13) The marriage is irretrievably broken. Under no circumstances
shall the court grant a divorce on this ground until not less than
30 days from the date of service on the respondent. |