“Grounds” are the legal reason the state has to allow a couple to divorce. Those reasons are found in the state statute. In Maryland, we have to divide them up between absolute and limited divorces, because they’re different for each type of divorce.

In Maryland, an absolute divorce ends the marriage, allows parties to change their name, divides marital property (hopefully all of it), can award alimony (spousal support), custody of children, child support, and decides what to do with retirement accounts.

Maryland has two categories of absolute divorce, one is based on fault, the other is based on the amount of time a couple has been separated. Maryland does not have no-fault divorce, and in Maryland, there is no such thing as “irreconcilable differences” as a ground for divorce. There is only fault or time. We call fault-based grounds “culpable” and time-based grounds “non-culpable.”

Here is a list of fault-based grounds:

• Adultery – no time period of separation needed, in fact, no separation needed. This means your spouse had an affair with someone other than you. It does not mean she had an “emotional” affair, it does not mean she had an internet relationship, although these are both often symptoms of adultery in the legal sense.

• Cruelty – no time period of separation needed, in fact, no separation needed (but you might want to be separated if you want to prove this ground is true!) This ground usually (although not always) requires a pattern of physical violence to you or your kids. Also, there has to be no reasonable hope that you and your spouse will reconcile.

• Excessively vicious conduct – same as above as far as the time and proof needed, but here, the violence must be physical and must be severe and can be only a single incident that is extremely serious and gives the victim a reason to believe it will happen again. AND there has to be no reasonable hope that you and your spouse will reconcile.

• Desertion – this has to have continued for at least a year before you can even file for divorce, you have to prove the other person intended to end the marriage and that there is no reasonable hope or expectation you will reconcile and it has to be a real desertion, meaning no communication, the person abandoned (or took) all or most of the marital property, and that the person completely abandoned his or her financial obligations to the marriage. It rarely means just leaving the house.

• Constructive Desertion – this also has to have continued for at least a year before you can even file for divorce. It is pretty much like desertion as far as the reason for the end of the marriage and the lack of expectation you will reconcile. It’s different in that it is a little easier to prove than out-and-out desertion. This ground is a hybrid between cruelty and desertion. With constructive desertion, the person being deserted is the person who leaves. They leave because they have to do so “to preserve their health, safety and self-respect.”

• Insanity – before filing for divorce, the insane spouse has to have been in a mental institution for at least three years — that’s right, three. In today’s mental health treatment environment, this almost never happens. Two psychiatrists (this means M.D., not Ph.D.) have to testify that the insane spouse is incurable AND that there is no hope of recovery. Finally, one of the parties has to have lived in Maryland for two years. I suppose technically this is possible as a ground for divorce, but it would be pretty rare.

• Incarceration – before filing for divorce, the incarcerated spouse must have been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor; he or she has to have been sentenced to serve at least three years, or an indeterminate sentence. And he or she must have already served 12 months of the sentence. This too is technically possible, but practically very rare.

And here is a list of the time-based grounds for divorce in Maryland:

• One year of separation – you must have been separated for at least a year before you file for divorce, you have to prove that both you and your spouse intended to end the marriage and that there is no reasonable hope or expectation you will reconcile. Usually, the proof that you and your spouse separated voluntarily is a marital separation agreement, fully executed (that means you both sign it), that says you separated because you both wanted to end the marriage. The separation agreement should cover all the things the court would resolve if you went to trial. Folks who have this ground for divorce can get what we call an uncontested divorce.

• Two years of separation - you must have been separated for at least two years before you file for divorce. That’s it. No separation agreement needed. If there are outstanding issues about anything else, they still have to be resolved by the court if you don’t have a separation agreement. If you do, you can get an uncontested divorce.

• Notes on time-based grounds – here are a couple of things folks miss when they think about “non-culpable” grounds in Maryland. First, separation. You have to be really separated. This means living in separate residences. It means NOT living under the same roof (look for more about this in the next post on limited divorces). And even if you get an uncontested divorce, you have to have what is known as a “corroborating witness” at your ten-minute divorce hearing. We don’t have “paper” divorces in Maryland. Whoever files for divorce, has to show up at court, with a witness, who can testify to the important elements of the statute.