Divorce

Grounds are the legally acceptable reasons for getting a divorce. Rhode Island has no-fault and fault-based grounds for divorce.

No-Fault Divorce

You can get a no-fault divorce if you and your spouse have irreconcilable differences that have caused an irreparable breakdown of your marriage. In this type of divorce, the judge does not consider blame or any claims of wrongdoing.¹

Fault-Based Divorce

If you don’t want to go the no-fault divorce route, the other option is to get a divorce by proving that your spouse is responsible (“at fault”) for the breakdown of your marriage. Fault-based reasons include if your spouse:

• is impotent;
• cheats on you (adultery);
• treats you with extreme cruelty;
• deserts you for five years or a for shorter period of time as decided by the judge;
• is continually drunk;
• is addicted to opium, morphine, or chloral, referred to in the law as “habitual, excessive, and intemperate” use;
• engages in any other “gross misbehavior” or “wickedness” that violates the marriage vows, such as sexually inappropriate or immoral behavior; or
• neglects you and refuses to support you even when able to, for at least one year. Note: This ground only applies to a husband who neglects and refuses to support his wife, not vice versa.²

¹ R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-5-3.1
² R.I. Gen. Laws § 15-5-2