Just like states have particular requirements for individuals who wish to get married, so too do states have requirements for getting divorced. Fortunately for you, if you live in Georgia and hope to get a divorce, the conditions are not nearly as strict as those of other states. FindLaw details the fairly lenient divorce requirements in the Peach State.
Like other states, Georgia recognizes no-fault divorce. However, unlike many others, it also recognizes fault divorce. For couples to file and complete a fault divorce, one party must prove the existence of cruelty; adultery; drug or alcohol abuse; willful and continued desertion for at least one year; insanity or mental incapacity; pregnancy by a man other than the husband; or conviction of a crime. Other grounds for a fault-based divorce include fraud, force or duress in obtaining the marriage, impotency, intermarriage within prohibited degrees of affinity or irreconcilable differences.
If you and your spouse wish to obtain a no-fault divorce, you need not prove any of the above. The only requirements you must meet, as a couple, involve residency and a possible waiting period.
To obtain a no-fault divorce in Georgia, you or your spouse must have lived in the state, as a resident, for at least six months. Neither of you needs to prove that one party was at fault for the dissolution.
If the courts feel that a reconciliation is possible, they may require you and your spouse to undergo a 30-day waiting period before they will begin the process. The courts may also impose a waiting period even if you have already started the process and before it will finalize your divorce. The courts will also not grant a divorce in less than 30 days after one party serves the divorce papers to the other. This is the case even if both parties agree to the divorce.
You should not use the contents of this article as legal advice. It is for your informational purposes only.