A Georgia divorce granted because a spouse is incurably mentally ill ends the marriage but not the duty to support them.
The Statute Says So Directly
The last sentence of OCGA 19-5-3(11) is easy to miss: “The status of the parties as to the support and maintenance of the mentally ill person shall not be altered in any way by the granting of the divorce.”
Georgia normally treats a divorce decree as the end of the support question. This ground is the statutory exception.
The Duty Survives Even a Silent Decree
Morris v. Morris, 215 Ga. 24 (1959), is the case. A wife was adjudged insane and committed in 1945. Her husband obtained a divorce on that ground in 1955, and the decree “made no provision for her support and maintenance.” She was later restored to sanity, had no property or trade, and sued him for alimony.
He argued the court had no power to hear it, since the marriage was already dissolved. The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed, and its reasoning was the statute: to hold that she could not sue “would amount to a holding that her claim against him for support and maintenance has to that extent been altered by the divorce decree he obtained.”
The conclusion is flat: “his duty to support and maintain her continues to exist and her legal right to have him comply with that obligation is not altered in any way by the divorce decree he thus obtains.”
Who Can Bring the Claim
Morris answers this too. The spouse can sue in her own name once her sanity is restored and adjudicated. While the incapacity lasts, a guardian ad litem can sue for her.
So this ground is not a way out of a support obligation. It ends a marriage and leaves the obligation where it was.
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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!