Condonation—when it is not a defense to divorce in Mississippi?
Cohabitation does not equal condonation
Continuing on with our discussion of condonation as a defense to fault-based divorce in Mississippi, some cases have held the defense of condonation does not apply to those continuing offenses such as cruel and inhumane treatment and habitual and excessive drug use.
In a case from DeSoto County, Mississippi, the chancellor denied a divorce to a husband whose wife had abused drugs for a number of years. The court said because the husband had sex with her one time after she had moved back in, he condoned her drug abuse. The Court of Appeals disagreed and reversed the case holding that it did not believe condonation applied to continuous behavior, such as habitual drug abuse, and even if it did, one act of sexual intercourse after the wife abused drugs was insufficient to prevent the divorce when the wife continued to abuse drugs after the sexual encounter.
The Mississippi Supreme Court has also held that “habitual cruel and inhuman treatment is an offense of a continuing nature and is not condoned by the mere continuance of cohabitation.” This could be applied to the battered spouse cases, as well as others, where the battered spouse does not leave the home. By not leaving, the battered spouse had not necessarily condoned the abusive behavior.
The point from these cases is that condonation rest on intent—the intent of the parties to resume marital relations after the offensive behavior. It is an agreement between the spouses. One act of sexual intercourse may not rise to the level of intending to resume the marital relations and more proof of forgiveness may be needed.
The application of the defense of condonation is very fact specific and depends on the type of conduct as shown above. If you find yourself in such a situation, consult an attorney as to whether you have grounds for a divorce. If we can help, contact the Kisselburgh Law Firm.
