Grounds for Divorce
in Mississippi

Section 93-5-1 of the Mississippi Code lists twelve fault grounds: natural impotency; adultery; being sentenced to a penitentiary; willful, continued, and obstinate desertion for one year; habitual drunkenness; habitual and excessive use of opium, morphine, or a similar drug; habitual cruel and inhuman treatment, including spousal domestic abuse; mental illness or an intellectual disability at the time of marriage that the other spouse did not know of; marriage to someone already married to another person; the wife's pregnancy by another man at the time of marriage, unknown to the husband; marriage within the prohibited degrees of kinship; and incurable mental illness. Section 93-5-2 adds irreconcilable differences, the no-fault ground, which needs a joint complaint or a spouse who is personally served or signs a waiver and does not contest it.

Thirteen is the twelve fault grounds in Section 93-5-1 plus irreconcilable differences in Section 93-5-2. The statute itself names twelve causes; irreconcilable differences sits in its own section with its own rules: a joint complaint or a spouse who is personally served or signs a written waiver, no contest or denial on file, and 60 days on file before the hearing.

Only in part. Irreconcilable differences is a no-fault ground, but it requires a joint complaint or a spouse who is personally served or signs a written waiver, and it cannot be granted over a contest or denial unless that contest is withdrawn by leave of court or replaced by a written consent under Section 93-5-2(3). When a spouse contests and will not withdraw it, or will not sign the terms, the other spouse has to prove one of the twelve fault grounds in Section 93-5-1.

Yes, by proving one of the twelve fault grounds in Section 93-5-1 to the chancellor. Without a joint complaint, or a spouse who is personally served or signs a waiver and never contests, an irreconcilable differences divorce is not available, and the custody, support, and property terms still need both spouses' signatures on a written agreement or consent. A fault complaint can also plead irreconcilable differences as an alternate ground (Section 93-5-2(6)), so the case can still end by agreement if the spouses settle.

By clear and convincing evidence of both an adulterous inclination and a reasonable opportunity to satisfy it, the standard the Mississippi Supreme Court stated in Dillon v. Dillon (1986). Circumstantial evidence can be used, but the spouse relying on it still has to present satisfactory proof, and the testimony of the spouse asking for the divorce must be substantially corroborated (Uniform Chancery Court Rule 8.03). Adultery is not a ground if both spouses arranged it to get a divorce, or if they cohabited after the innocent spouse learned of it (Section 93-5-1).

Conduct that endangers life, limb, or health, or creates a reasonable fear of that danger, making the marriage unsafe for the spouse asking for the divorce, or conduct so unnatural and infamous that it makes the marriage revolting. It must be more than unkindness, rudeness, incompatibility, or want of affection, and it can be proved by a preponderance of the evidence (Daigle v. Daigle, 1993). Usually a pattern of conduct is required, though in cases of violence a single incident may be enough (Wangler v. Wangler, 2020). Since July 1, 2017, the ground expressly includes spousal domestic abuse.

Condonation is the forgiveness of a marital wrong by the wronged spouse (Wood v. Wood, 1986). It is conditional: the forgiveness depends on the offending spouse's continued good behavior. It is a defense the accused spouse must raise specifically in the answer, or it is waived (Carambat v. Carambat, 2011). Not leaving the home is not by itself an obstacle to a divorce (Section 93-5-4). For adultery, the statute bars a divorce if the spouses cohabited after the innocent spouse learned of it.

It can, but it is not an automatic bar to either. Fault or misconduct is one of the twelve Armstrong factors for alimony (Armstrong v. Armstrong, 1993), and the Mississippi Supreme Court has held that adultery should not stand as an absolute bar to alimony (Hammonds v. Hammonds, 1992). In dividing property, misconduct counts when it places a burden on the stability and harmony of the marriage and family, and a chancellor erred in holding that a spouse's adultery barred her from any share (Carrow v. Carrow, 1994).

You are still married until the chancellor enters the final judgment, so a new relationship can affect the divorce. Adultery is a fault ground (Section 93-5-1) even when the affair begins after the separation (Talbert v. Talbert, Miss. 1999). Your spouse can contest an irreconcilable differences divorce or seek a divorce for adultery, and a contest blocks the no-fault divorce unless it is withdrawn by leave of court or replaced by a written consent (Section 93-5-2). Fault can count against a spouse in alimony and property division, though it is not an automatic bar to either (Hammonds v. Hammonds, 1992; Carrow v. Carrow, 1994). For custody, adultery is weighed under moral fitness, one Albright factor, and does not by itself disqualify a parent (Carr v. Carr, Miss. 1985). And a new marriage entered before the judgment would be void (Section 93-7-1).

No statute sets one; the 60-day wait applies only to irreconcilable differences. Some grounds carry their own time: desertion has to last one year, and incurable mental illness requires three years of institutional treatment before filing. The other spouse has 30 days to answer, a divorce cannot be granted by default, and the testimony must be corroborated, so a fault case moves only as fast as the proof.

Yes, if the chancellor finds it reliable. Section 93-5-1 says spousal domestic abuse may be established through the reliable testimony of a single credible witness, who may be the injured spouse. It includes causing or attempting to cause bodily injury, an attempt by physical menace to put a spouse in fear of imminent serious bodily harm, and a pattern of threats, intimidation, emotional or verbal abuse, forced isolation, sexual extortion or abuse, or stalking that rises above unkindness, rudeness, incompatibility, or want of affection.

No. Section 93-5-4 says it is no impediment to a divorce that the offended spouse did not leave the marital home or separate from the offending spouse because of that spouse's conduct. Safety comes first, though: if you are in danger, a protection order can be sought separately.

Yes. Section 93-5-2(6) allows irreconcilable differences to be pleaded as an alternate ground with any fault ground. If the spouses later settle, the case can end as an irreconcilable differences divorce, but any contest or denial on file has to be withdrawn by leave and order of the court, or replaced by a written consent under Section 93-5-2(3), and the complaint must have been on file at least 60 days before the hearing. If irreconcilable differences was never pleaded, a day-of-trial switch was reversed (Perkins v. Perkins, 2001).

Six months. Under Section 93-5-5, one spouse must have been an actual, bona fide resident of Mississippi for the six months before the case is filed. A service member stationed and living in Mississippi with a spouse counts as a resident if the couple lived here when they separated, and a residence acquired just to get a divorce leads to dismissal.

At Lowrey, Fortner, & Miri P.A., contested and fault-based divorces are handled by Partners Kimberly-Joy (KJ) Miri and Shawn M. Lowrey, who appear regularly in the Forrest County and Lamar County chancery courts and across the Pine Belt. The firm has practiced in Hattiesburg since 1980. Call (601) 582-5015.