How Baton Rouge marriages end

You’ll find countless blogs listing the reasons marriages end. Blogs containing that sort of information can be helpful when you’re trying to cope with emotional turmoil during separation and divorce. However, this post deals with the legal process of obtaining a Louisiana divorce.

We’ll start with the less common ways Louisiana marriages are dissolved. Annulments, known as declarations of nullity, are granted when a marriage takes place without one person’s consent. Declarations are not required when no ceremony is performed, a participant is a bigamist, the relationship is incestuous, the partners are the same-sex or the marriage is performed using substitutes for the couple.

A marriage also ends when one partner dies or in some cases, when a spouse cannot be found but is presumed to be dead. An example would be a military service member who is declared missing and believed to be dead. An attorney can help you understand the circumstances under which divorce can be obtained following a spouse’s disappearance.

The legal dissolution of marriage also occurs as the result of a divorce. Spouses in covenant marriages abide by rules that differ from other couples. All spouses must meet certain terms before the state will declare a couple divorced.

You can file a petition to divorce before or after separation. However, spouses must be living apart and remain separated for a specified time before a divorce is granted. Spouses without minor children may file for divorce 180 days after separation; divorcing parents must be separated one year before filing.

Grounds for divorce also include adultery or a felony conviction. Proof must be submitted for a judgment of divorce to be obtained on these grounds. To reiterate, divorces can be granted for spouses in covenant marriages, but these rules don’t apply in those circumstances.

Further details and exceptions to these rules can be discussed with a Louisiana family law attorney.

Source: Louisiana State Bar Association, “Divorce” Dec. 03, 2014