WomensLaw serves and supports all survivors.

Legal Information: Mississippi

Divorce

Laws current as of August 8, 2025

What else do I need to know about getting a divorce based on incurable mental illness?

In Mississippi, you can file for a fault-based divorce on the grounds that your spouse has an incurable mental illness. You will have to prove that for at least three years before you filed for divorce, your spouse has been:

  • under regular treatment for the illness; and
  • confined in an institution, even if they were released and then returned back to the institution.1

Two doctors must sign affidavits that your spouse has an incurable mental illness. At least one of the physicians must be either:

  • the superintendent of a state or veterans psychiatric hospital; or
  • a member of the medical staff at the institution where your spouse lives.1

1 Miss. Code § 93-5-1

Legal Information

© 2008–2025 WomensLaw.org is a project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence, Inc. All rights reserved. This website is funded in part through a grant from the Office for Victims of Crime, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Neither the U.S. Department of Justice nor any of its components operate, control, are responsible for, or necessarily endorse, this website (including, without limitation, its content, technical infrastructure, and policies, and any services or tools provided). NNEDV is a 501©(3) non-profit organization; EIN 52-1973408.