Can the court grant a divorce on a no-fault ground in Ohio?
Full Question:
My husband and I have been living apart for the past two years. It doesn’t look like we are ever getting back together. We have had ego clashes and work-related disagreements which caused the rift between us as we work in rival financial firms. I want to move on with my life and start afresh. I don’t have any particular fault to point out in my marriage which is convincing enough for the court to grant me a divorce. What do I do to end the marriage?
11/30/2016 |
Category: Divorce » Grounds |
State: Ohio |
#27359
Answer:
“The court of common pleas may grant divorces for the following causes:
(A) Either party had a husband or wife living at the time of the marriage from which the divorce is sought;
(B) Willful absence of the adverse party for one year;
(C) Adultery;
(D) Extreme cruelty;
(E) Fraudulent contract;
(F) Any gross neglect of duty;
(G) Habitual drunkenness;
(H) Imprisonment of the adverse party in a state or federal correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint;
(I) Procurement of a divorce outside this state, by a husband or wife, by virtue of which the party who procured it is released from the obligations of the marriage, while those obligations remain binding upon the other party;
(J) On the application of either party, when husband and wife have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation;
(K) Incompatibility, unless denied by either party.
A plea of res judicata or of recrimination with respect to any provision of this section does not bar either party from obtaining a divorce on this ground.”
In the given case, the spouses have been living apart from each other for over a year. Per clause (J) of the ORC Ann. 3105.01 the court may grant a divorce to the spouse who files for a divorce when they have been living separately for over a years’ time.
