Reason #8: Your spouse is going to jail.
Marriage is a partnership, and as discussed in Part 7 of our series addressing the many reasons to divorce in Georgia, both parties must participate in order for a marriage to be successful. Additionally, both parties to a marriage should feel safe and secure while in their spouse’s presence. With this in mind, if your spouse has been convicted of a criminal offense and sentenced to serve a jail term of at least two years, you should consider taking advantage of Georgia’s eighth reason to divorce in Georgia.
According to Georgia law, an individual may seek a divorce if his or her spouse was convicted of “an offense involving moral turpitude” and “sentenced to imprisonment in a penal institution for a term of two years of longer.” O.C.G.A. § 19-5-3 (8). Although “an offense involving moral turpitude” is not defined in the section of Georgia law addressing Georgia’s thirteen grounds for divorce, crimes of moral turpitude generally include offenses such as: murder, rape, spousal abuse, child abuse, incest, kidnaping, robbery, assault, theft and fraud.