What are the divorce grounds in Pennsylvania?
On July 1, 1980, the Pennsylvania Divorce Code, Act No. 1980-26, 23 Pa. P.S. §101 et seq. was enacted. At the time, Pennsylvania’s Divorce Code had not changed in any significant way for over 200 years. The new law adopted no-fault divorce along with equitable distribution and alimony. The law has been amended since that date beginning in 1988. The Code now appears at 23 Pa. Cons. Stat §101 et seq.The Pennsylvania Divorce Code has the following fault grounds:
- Willful and malicious desertion and absence from the habitation of the injured and innocent spouse, without reasonable cause, for the period of one or more years.
- Adultery.
- Cruel and barbarous treatment endangering the life or health of the injured and innocent spouse.
- Bigamy.
- Sentence of imprisonment for a term of two or more years upon conviction of having committed a crime.
- Indignities to the innocent and injured spouse as to render his or her condition intolerable and life burdensome. Divorce Code §3301(a)
Otherwise, the court may grant a divorce from a spouse arising from insanity or serious mental disorder where a spouse has been confined to an institution for 18 months prior to filing for divorce and where there is no reasonable prospect of patient discharge from the inpatient treatment during 18 months after filing for divorce.
Additionally, there are two no-fault grounds for divorce based on mutual consent and the other based on parties having lived apart for a statutorily mandated time period. Divorce Code, §3301 (c) and (d).
The term “irretrievable breakdown” means estrangement due to marital difficulties with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation. “Separate and apart” means complete cessation of any and all cohabitation, whether living in the same residence or not.