If both spouses ask a Georgia court for a divorce, the judge may grant one on the pleadings alone – but only if one of them has pleaded the no-fault ground.
Recriminating Does Not Buy You a Trial
Loftis v. Loftis, 236 Ga. 637 (1976), is the case. A husband filed for divorce alleging the marriage was irretrievably broken. His wife denied that allegation but asked for a total divorce of her own on the ground of cruel treatment. The trial judge granted a divorce to both parties on the husband’s motion for judgment on the pleadings, reserving every other issue.
The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed: “Where both parties by verified pleadings seek a total divorce, and the verified pleadings of one party assert that the marriage is irretrievably broken, it is not error for the trial judge to grant a divorce to both parties on the ground of irretrievable brokenness.”
Denying that the marriage was broken while asking to be let out of it was not enough to create a triable issue.
You Still Get to Prove the Rest
Ending the marriage on the pleadings did not silence the wife on anything else. The ruling, the Court said, “does not mean that, in the trial of other issues between the parties reserved for decision, either party is prevented from submitting relevant evidence to show, as he or she contends, the real cause of the separation and divorce.”
Mutual Fault Pleadings Do Not Work the Same Way
Where neither spouse pleads the no-fault ground, the answer flips. In Childs v. Childs, 223 Ga. 435 (1967), each spouse sought a divorce for cruel treatment. Because that made them guilty of like conduct, the Georgia Supreme Court held that “the only valid judgment they could have rendered was the denial of a divorce to both.”
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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!