Divorce Requirements in NJ: What Should I Know?

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If you are considering a divorce due to marital issues, it’s essential to familiarize yourself with the specific legal requirements in your jurisdiction before initiating the process. Please continue reading as we explore the legal requirements for obtaining a divorce in New Jersey and how an experienced Ocean County Divorce Attorney can assist you.

What Are New Jersey’s Residency Requirements?

To initiate divorce proceedings in the Garden State, it’s imperative to ascertain your eligibility. This eligibility is contingent upon two primary factors: residency requirement and the presence of a legally recognized ground for the dissolution of your marriage.

New Jersey law mandates that at least one spouse must have resided in the state for at least 12 consecutive months preceding the filing of the divorce complaint. However, this one-year residency requirement is waived in cases where the grounds for divorce are adultery. This allows aggrieved spouses to seek immediate legal recourse and dissolution without being bound by the residency time constraint. Under these circumstances, you must have lived in the state since the adultery happened.

What Are the Grounds for Divorce?

In addition to meeting the state’s residency requirements, you must provide a valid reason or “ground” for your divorce. It’s important to note that New Jersey recognizes both fault and no-fault grounds for divorce. Fault grounds include:

Adultery: You can cite this ground if you can show that your spouse engaged in an extramarital affair.
Desertion: You can cite this ground if you have not cohabitated with your spouse for more than twelve months.
Extreme cruelty: You can cite this if one spouse engages in cruel or abusive treatment that makes it unreasonable to continue to cohabitate.
Separation: While there is no such thing as “legal separation” in New Jersey, you can cite separation as grounds for your divorce if you have lived apart for at least 18 months.
Drug or alcohol addiction: You can cite this if your spouse suffers from substance abuse issues that have lasted more than a year and have directly harmed your relationship.
Imprisonment: You can cite this ground if your spouse has been incarcerated for more than 18 months after marriage.
Deviant sexual conduct: New Jersey criminalized marital rape in the 1990s. You can cite this ground if your spouse voluntarily performed a sexual act without consent.
Institutionalization for mental illness: You can cite this ground if your spouse has been committed to an institution for a mental health condition for at least 24 consecutive months.

If you decide to pursue a fault-based divorce, you will need to prove that your spouse was to blame for the end of your marriage by engaging in a certain type of misconduct. No-fault grounds include irreconcilable differences which essentially means that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and there is no hope for reconciliation.

Should I Consult an Attorney?

If you satisfy the residency requirements and have a legally acceptable reason for the breakdown of the marriage, you are eligible to file for divorce in New Jersey. The process can be complex and emotionally draining. As such, it’s advisable to seek the guidance of a skilled Ocean County divorce attorney. Our legal team can help you understand the state’s grounds for divorce, how to decide which one applies to your case, and the potential consequences of your decision. Connect with the Law Office of Sarina Gianna, LLC to schedule a consultation.