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Legal Information: General

Divorce

Laws current as of June 13, 2025

What are the requirements to file for divorce?

Each state and territory has its laws regarding who can get a divorce and under what circumstances. The two main requirements are residency and grounds.

Residency

Most states and territories require that you or your spouse live (reside) there for a certain amount of time to file a divorce petition. Generally, you may have to establish that you are a resident at the time of filing the divorce papers or that your spouse is a resident, even if you are not.

Some states and territories will allow you to file for a divorce even if you don’t meet the residency requirements, but the reason for the divorce happened in that state/territory.

Grounds

The law will also include the reasons for which you can get a divorce in that state or territory. These are called the grounds for divorce. Most states have two types of grounds, fault-based and no-fault.

  • Fault-based grounds
  • You allege that your spouse did something that caused the breakdown of the marriage. For example, s/he was:
    • unfaithful;
    • imprisoned; or
    • abusive.
  • No-fault grounds
  • You don’t claim that your spouse is at fault for the end of the marriage.  The most popular no-fault grounds are:
    • irreconcilable differences; and
    • living separately and apart.
  • You are telling the judge that, regardless of the specific reasons, the marriage is broken and cannot be fixed.

Often, even if it was one person’s fault that the marriage broke down, many people choose to still use the no-fault ground because it may be an easier route through the court process.

You can see state-specific information on divorce requirements by selecting your state or territory from the drop-down menu to the left.

Legal Information

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