Georgia House of Representatives - 1995/1996 Sessions

HB 30 - Divorce; repeal certain ground

Page Numbers - 1/ 2/ 3

Code Sections - 19-5-3

1. Joyce  1st             2. Lakly  105th


House Comm: SJudy      /                Senate Comm:            /                                   
House Vote: Yeas       Nays             Senate Vote: Yeas     Nays                                  
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               House          Action         Senate                                                 
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              1/9/95   Read 1st Time                                                                
              1/10/95  Read 2nd Time                                                                
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Rules Suspended to Introduce                                                                        
                                                                                                    
Code Sections amended: 19-5-3                                                                       


HB 30                                              LC 9 7914






                        A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                               AN ACT


  1- 1  To amend Chapter 5 of Title 19 of the Official Code of
  1- 2  Georgia Annotated, relating to divorce, so as to repeal a
  1- 3  ground for the granting of a total divorce; to repeal
  1- 4  conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

  1- 5       BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

                         SECTION 1.

  1- 6  Chapter 5 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia
  1- 7  Annotated, relating to divorce, is amended by striking Code
  1- 8  Section 19-5-3, relating to grounds for a total divorce, and
  1- 9  inserting in lieu thereof a new Code Section 19-5-3 to read
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  1-11    "19-5-3. (Index)

  1-12    The following grounds shall be sufficient to authorize the
  1-13    granting of a total divorce:

  1-14      (1) Intermarriage by persons within the prohibited
  1-15      degrees of consanguinity or affinity;

  1-16      (2) Mental incapacity at the time of the marriage;

  1-17      (3) Impotency at the time of the marriage;

  1-18      (4) Force, menace, duress, or fraud in obtaining the
  1-19      marriage;

  1-20      (5) Pregnancy of the wife by a man other than the
  1-21      husband, at the time of the marriage, unknown to the
  1-22      husband;

  1-23      (6) Adultery in either of the parties after marriage;

  1-24      (7) Willful and continued desertion by either of the
  1-25      parties for the term of one year;

  1-26      (8) The conviction of either party for an offense
  1-27      involving moral turpitude, under which he or she is
  1-28      sentenced to imprisonment in a penal institution for a
  1-29      term of two years or longer;



                                 -1- (Index)

                                                   LC 9 7914

  2- 1      (9) Habitual intoxication;

  2- 2      (10) Cruel treatment, which shall consist of the willful
  2- 3      infliction of pain, bodily or mental, upon the
  2- 4      complaining party, such as reasonably justifies
  2- 5      apprehension of danger to life, limb, or health;

  2- 6      (11) Incurable mental illness. No divorce shall be
  2- 7      granted upon this ground unless the mentally ill party
  2- 8      has been adjudged mentally ill by a court of competent
  2- 9      jurisdiction or has been certified to be mentally ill by
  2-10      two physicians who have personally examined the party;
  2-11      and he or she has been confined in an institution for
  2-12      the mentally ill or has been under continuous treatment
  2-13      for mental illness for a period of at least two years
  2-14      immediately preceding the commencement of the action;
  2-15      and the superintendent or other chief executive officer
  2-16      of the institution and one competent physician appointed
  2-17      by the court, after a thorough examination, make a
  2-18      certified statement under oath that it is their opinion
  2-19      that the party evidences such a want of reason, memory,
  2-20      and intelligence as to prevent the party from
  2-21      comprehending the nature, duties, and consequences of
  2-22      the marriage relationship and that, in the light of
  2-23      present day medical knowledge, recovery of the party's
  2-24      mental health cannot be expected at any time during his
  2-25      or her life. Notice of the action must be served upon
  2-26      the guardian of the person of the mentally ill person
  2-27      and upon the superintendent or other chief executive
  2-28      officer of the institution in which the person is
  2-29      confined. In the event that there is no guardian of the
  2-30      person, then notice of the action shall be served upon a
  2-31      guardian ad litem, who shall be appointed by the court
  2-32      in which the divorce action is filed, and upon the
  2-33      superintendent or chief executive officer of the
  2-34      institution in which the person is confined. The
  2-35      guardian and superintendent shall be entitled to appear
  2-36      and be heard upon the issues. The status of the parties
  2-37      as to the support and maintenance of the mentally ill
  2-38      person shall not be altered in any way by the granting
  2-39      of the divorce;

  2-40      (12) Habitual drug addiction, which shall consist of
  2-41      addiction to any controlled substance as defined in
  2-42      Article 2 of Chapter 13 of Title 16;.

  2-43      (13) The marriage is irretrievably broken. Under no
  2-44      circumstances shall the court grant a divorce on this


                                 -2- (Index)

                                                   LC 9 7914

  3- 1      ground until not less than 30 days from the date of
  3- 2      service on the respondent."

                         SECTION 2.

  3- 3  All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
  3- 4  repealed.










































                                 -3- (Index)