No. Waiting does not cost you the right to file. It may cost you something else.
No Time Bar
The question was settled in Mosely v. Mosely, 67 Ga. 92 (1881). A wife sued for divorce on desertion and adultery decades after her husband drove her and their four children out of the house. He demurred, arguing her claim was barred by the statute of limitations.
The Georgia Supreme Court rejected it, holding “that mere lapse of time is not a bar to the suit.” It declined to import the limitation periods that govern ordinary contract claims, reasoning that marriage “is more than a contract, and differs from all others.”
The Court also put the practical objection plainly: “Shall it be said that an abandonment for three years is a cause of divorce, but a desertion of twenty years is a shield and protection from its consequences?”
Delay Still Counts for Something
The holding is not that time is irrelevant. Lapse of time “does not prevent an investigation, but leaves it to the court and jury to determine on all the facts of the cause, including this lapse of time, the plaintiff’s right to a divorce.”
The Court was candid about how that tends to go. “If the interval between the offence, when known (such as adultery), and the bringing of the suit be very long, a court and jury should be indisposed to relieve a party who appears to have slumbered over it, unless some satisfactory reason be shown.”
Long delay can also supply evidence for a defense such as condonation. Note as well that the desertion period Mosely mentions has since changed. Under current law it is one year.
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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!