Grounds for Divorce in New Jersey

When you file divorce paperwork in New Jersey, the key document that you will complete is called the “Complaint for Divorce.” In it, you will list biographical information about your family and asset information about your marriage. You will also need to complete a very important section in which you state your “grounds for divorce,” or the reason why your marriage has ended. The grounds you declare can have a significant impact on the course of your divorce. You will want to choose your grounds for divorce with care. Here is some information to help you make an informed decision.

Available grounds for divorce in New Jersey are:

• Adultery
• Desertion
• Extreme Cruelty
• Separation
• Voluntary Addiction to Narcotic Drugs
• Habitual Drunkenness
• Institutionalization for Mental Illness
• Imprisonment
• Deviant Sexual Conduct
• Irreconcilable Differences

Couples seeking a divorce in New Jersey have options.  They can file immediately for divorce using a ground such as extreme cruelty, irreconcilable differences or adultery. Alternatively, they can physically separate and live apart for 18 months and thereafter file under the ground of Separation.

In the first case, the client, with his or her New Jersey family law attorney, determines which ground (or grounds) for divorce is most appropriate. This ground is specifically stated in the Complaint for Divorce.

In the second case, the couple lives apart in different households for an 18-month waiting period. However, it should be noted that maintaining two households after living together in one can add a substantial financial burden to the process of getting a divorce.

Common Grounds for Divorce

Irreconcilable Differences

In 2007, New Jersey joined many other states by adding “irreconcilable differences” as a “no fault” ground for divorce. Using irreconcilable differences allows divorcing couples to begin their legal proceedings in a more civilized manner, without specific accusations that can often result in a more contentious divorce. Irreconcilable differences as a ground for divorce simply means that there has been a breakdown of the marriage and it has lasted at least six months.

Extreme Cruelty

A significant number of litigants tend to use “Extreme Cruelty” as their ground for divorce. Despite the harshness of the wording, Extreme Cruelty may very well be one of the mildest grounds that a party could file under. It is really up to the party filing for divorce to itemize what comprises the “cruelty” which they were subject to by their spouse. For instance, Extreme Cruelty could very easily be described by one party as daily physical and verbal abuse by their spouse, along with multiple pages of details included in the Complaint for Divorce. In contrast, Extreme Cruelty could also be used by a filing party if their spouse was not being emotionally supportive for the past several months. The Extreme Cruelty ground for divorce may be as expressive or understated as one would like it to be. However, it must offer enough detail to convince the judge that it would be unreasonable to expect the filing party to continue to live with and remain married to their current spouse

Separation

Using the ground “separation” is only allowable if the couple has lived apart for at least 18 months.

Multiple Grounds for Divorce

Sometimes, more than one ground for divorce is listed in the Complaint for Divorce. While this is allowed, having more than one ground for divorce will not necessarily carry any additional weight with the judge in the case. Only one ground for divorce is necessary for a New Jersey divorce to be granted.