Forgiveness alone will not bar a Georgia divorce. The statute also requires cohabitation, and cohabitation means more and less than sharing a roof.
What the Statute Says
OCGA 19-5-4(a)(4) bars a divorce where there has been “a voluntary condonation and cohabitation subsequent to the acts complained of.” Two things are required, not one, which is why cohabitation is usually where the fight is.
It Does Not Require the Same Home
In Colvin v. Colvin, 211 Ga. 592 (1955), the wife testified that for about three months her husband was at her apartment nearly every night and they had marital relations several times a week, though he kept his own place.
The trial court charged the jury that cohabitation “is living in the same or common place of abode.” The Georgia Supreme Court reversed. “There may be a voluntary cohabitation of a husband and wife without actually living in the same or common place of abode.” The word means “the dwelling or being together as a man and wife.”
What matters is whether the parties resumed “their marital status and live together as husband and wife” — whether you took the marriage back up, not whose name is on the lease.
Cohabitation Raises a Presumption, and It Can Be Rebutted
Once cohabitation is shown, the spouse resisting the divorce gets the benefit of a presumption of condonation. It is not conclusive.
Duncan v. Duncan, 184 Ga. 602 (1937), is the case where it failed. A wife sued on cruel treatment that continued until she left. The only evidence of condonation was that she had gone on occupying the same apartment, with nothing to show they shared a sleeping room, and she testified “we were not living as man and wife.” The Georgia Supreme Court held that “the general presumption of matrimonial cohabitation and condonation by the wife, arising from their occupancy of the same set of apartments, was sufficiently rebutted by her testimony.”
Sharing an address starts the argument. It does not end it.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!