Grounds for Divorce in Alabama

In Alabama, the grounds for divorce are outlined in the Alabama Code Section 30-2-1. These grounds include both no-fault and fault-based reasons. Here's a summary:

No-Fault Grounds:

• Incompatibility of Temperament: This means that the spouses can no longer get along and cannot reasonably be expected to reconcile.
• Irretrievable Breakdown of the Marriage: The marriage has broken down to the extent that it cannot be fixed, and further attempts at reconciliation are futile.
• Voluntary Abandonment for One Year: One spouse has left the marital home for at least one year without intending to return.

Fault-Based Grounds:

• Adultery: One spouse has had voluntary sexual intercourse with someone other than their spouse.
• Imprisonment: One spouse has been imprisoned for a period set forth by the state law after the marriage.
• Habitual Drunkenness or Drug Use: Regular and excessive use of alcohol or drugs that affects the marriage.
• Incapacity at the Time of Marriage: One spouse was unable to understand the nature of the marriage contract when they got married, often due to mental incapacity or the influence of substances.
• Physical and Habitual Violence: One spouse has been physically abusive, posing a danger to the other spouse's life or health.
• Insanity: One spouse has been institutionalized for a mental disorder for a set period before filing for divorce, with specific requirements regarding the duration of the condition and institutionalization.
• Adultery, Deviant Sexual Behavior: Engaging in sexual behavior that is considered unnatural or immoral by the spouse seeking the divorce.
• Confinement for Incurable Insanity: The requirement for this ground typically involves a period of institutionalization.
• The Wife was Pregnant by Another at the Time of Marriage: If the husband did not know of the pregnancy at the time of marriage.

It's important to note that the specifics of these grounds can vary, and proving fault-based grounds in court can sometimes require substantial evidence.