Justice calls on Mississippi Legislature to reform divorce laws
Some couples should not be married
In an opinion this week out of the Mississippi Court of Appeals, Justice Irving wrote a separate opinion calling on the Mississippi Legislature to reform Mississippi's divorce laws to allow an irreconcilable differences divorce even when one spouse does not want the divorce.
The case centered around a Monroe County couple who dated for twenty years before marrying. The honeymoon was short-lived as they started to fight constantly following the first year of marriage. The husband filed for divorce based on cruel and inhuman treatment while the wife denied the grounds for divorce and sought spousal maintenance. At trial, the chancellor denied the divorce and ordered the husband to pay spousal maintenance.
As Justice Irving eloquently stated,
"I do not disagree with the majority. I think the present state of the law demands the outcome reached here. However, I write separately because I believe the facts in this case illustrate the need to change the law with respect to when a chancellor may grant a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences. If ever there is a couple that need to be divorced, Timothy and Kim are that couple. After having dated for over twenty years, Timothy and Kim exchanged marriage vows, only to find after one year that marriage was not so blissful. Yet, they remain in a marriage that is clearly irretrievably broken, as manifested by their irreconcilable differences.In my judgment, this case highlights the need for the legislature to take a fresh look at the grounds for allowing a divorce in this state. In cases where it is clear that the marriage is irretrievably broken, our chancellors should be able to grant a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences, even if the parties are unable or unwilling to meet the terms and conditions presently required by our statutory law for the granting of a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences. I can think of no public interest that is served by requiring two people to remain married under circumstances that are likely to lead only to more tension between them, especially in a situation like we have before us where one party has to pay a substantial sum of money to the other yet is unable to move on with his life.
Because I am obligated to uphold the law as it exists, I concur with the majority, but I do so with the fervent hope that the legislature will revisit the bases for granting a divorce in this state."
As previously outlined before, if one spouse in Mississippi does not want a divorce and the other spouse can not prove a fault based ground, there will be no divorce. The two will either continue to live together in misery, or live apart and one spouse pay spousal maintenance, until such time as grounds exist for granting the divorce. It is time for the Legislature to revisit this issue.
