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Georgia Grounds for Divorce – Habitual Intoxication

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In Georgia, parties cannot obtain a divorce except on one of 13 grounds allowed by law.OCGA §19-5-3. The ninth ground under the statute is "[h]abitual intoxication." OCGA §19-5-3(9).

To obtain a divorce under this ground, it is not necessary for the Petitioner to prove that his or her spouse was continuously and constantly drunk during the marriage. Fuller v. Fuller,108 Ga. 256 (1899). However, evidence that party "was 'drunk' or 'under the influence of liquor' on one occasion prior to the separation is wholly insufficient to sustain a divorce on the groundof habitual intoxication." Stimpson v. Stimpson, 213 Ga. 235 (1957). Thus, there must be a pattern of drunkenness, but does not have to be a constant, unending situation.

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