You know that it is time to end your marriage, but are you sure that you have a legal reason to get a divorce? Pennsylvania law only allows a couple to divorce in certain circumstances. Those circumstances include:
- Abandonment without a reasonable cause for one year or more.
- Adultery.
- Cruel treatment that puts your life or health at risk.
- Bigamy.
- Imprisonment. Your spouse must have been sentenced to prison for a period of two years or more.
- Treatment that makes your life unbearable or very difficult.
The six reasons above are considered to be fault based grounds for divorce. However, the law also allows a couple to divorce based on the following no-fault based grounds:
- Institutionalization. If you one spouse is institutionalized for at least 18 months prior to filing for divorce and is reasonably expected to be institutionalized for at least another 18 months, then a no-fault divorce may be filed.
- Mutual consent. You both agree that the marriage is over.
- Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. You must have lived apart for 2 or more years and file a divorce complaint alleging that your marriage is unfixable.
For information about which grounds for divorce is right for you, please contact an experienced Philadelphia divorce lawyer today.