A divorce legally ends a marriage. Once a divorce is granted, each partner may legally marry someone else. Family Court) There are only two grounds for divorce:

• The ‘irretrievable breakdown’ of the marriage, or
• The mental illness or continuous unconsciousness of one partner

IRRETRIEVABLE BREAKDOWN

This means the couple can no longer live together as man and wife. Both partners or one partner must prove to the court that the marriage broke down so badly that there is no reasonable chance of getting back together.

These are examples of the kind of evidence the court will accept as proof of irretrievable breakdown:

• The couple has not lived together like husband and wife for a period of time
• One partner had sexual intercourse with somebody else and because of this the other partner finds it impossible to continue living together as husband and wife
• One partner is in prison after being declared a ‘habitual criminal’. (This means he or she keeps committing crimes, and because of this was sentenced to 10–15 years in prison.)
• One partner deserted the other
• One partner abused the other, for example, the husband keeps assaulting the wife
• One partner is an alcoholic or a drug addict
• The partners no longer love each other – they may be too different, or they married when they were too young.
• One of the partners finds it impossible to live together as husband and wife for any other reason.

MENTAL ILLNESS OR UNCONSCIOUSNESS

The person wanting the divorce must show the court that the other spouse was admitted to or detained in a mental institution. The person must also show that the spouse has been in the institution for at least two years and that the doctors do not think he or she can be cured.

A person can also get a divorce if the other spouse is permanently unconscious. The spouse must have been unconscious for at least 6 months, and the doctor must see no hope of recovery.