Grounds for Divorce:
Per
Section 19-5-3 of
the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated.
"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.”
