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:

  1. Abandonment without a reasonable cause for one year or more.
  2. Adultery.
  3. Cruel treatment that puts your life or health at risk.
  4. Bigamy.
  5. Imprisonment. Your spouse must have been sentenced to prison for a period of two years or more.
  6. 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:

  1. 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.
  2. Mutual consent. You both agree that the marriage is over.
  3. 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.