Pennsylvania Divorce and Annulment Laws

First comes love, then comes marriage...

It goes without saying that there must be a marriage before there can be a divorce or annulment. In most circumstances, a marriage is entered into as part of a civil or religious ceremony and a marriage license is obtained. However, Pennsylvania was one of the few states that also recognized common law marriages. A common law marriage is a marriage entered into by the parties informally, without a civil or religious ceremony. The parties must exchange "words of the present intent" indicating their desire to be married and hold themselves out in the community as married individuals. While common law marriages entered into in Pennsylvania prior to October 2003 may be valid, there is some recent case law that questions the validity of common law marriages entered into after October 2003. A valid common-law marriage may end only through the divorce process.

Residency Requirements for Obtaining a Pennsylvania Divorce

A threshold requirement for obtaining a divorce is residency or domicile of one or both parties who are to be divorced. "Residency" refers to the state in which a person lives; "domicile" refers to the state that the person regards as "home." Usually the state of a person's residency and domicile are the same, but sometimes they can be different. A divorce can be commenced in Pennsylvania if at least one of the spouses has been a "bona fide resident" of Pennsylvania for at least six months prior to the filing of the divorce complaint. "Bona fide resident" means actual residence coupled with the intention to remain there permanently or indefinitely.

Grounds for Divorce in Pennsylvania

The party seeking a divorce must state a ground for divorce in the papers filed with the court, the Divorce Complaint. The grounds may be based on no-fault or fault. Over the last twenty years, "no-fault" has replaced "fault" as the dominant basis for obtaining a divorce. No-fault divorces are considered a more humane and realistic way to end a marriage. Husbands and wives who are divorcing usually are suffering enough without adding more fuel to the emotional fires by trying to prove who did what to whom. The laws of no-fault divorce recognize that human relationships are complex and that it is difficult to prove that a marriage broke down solely because of what one person did. A no-fault divorce is a divorce in which neither the wife nor husband blames the other for breakdown of the marriage. There are no accusations necessary to obtain a divorce and no need to prove "guilt" or "fault".

Pennsylvania Fault Based Grounds for Divorce

In Pennsylvania, spouses still can be divorced under fault-based grounds. Fault based divorces are awarded to the "innocent and injured spouse" when the other spouse has willfully deserted the marriage for a period greater than one year, committed adultery, endangered the life or health of the other spouse, entered into a bigamous marriage, been sentenced to prison for two of more years, or "offered such indignities to the innocent and injured spouse as to render that spouse's condition intolerable and life burdensome." However, as stated above, it is often expensive to proceed in this emotionally charged manner and often yields little benefits to do so. Instead, most divorces are now processed under the no-fault divorce methods.

Pennsylvania No-Fault Grounds for Divorce

Under Pennsylvania's no-fault method, a divorce decree can be processed as soon as ninety days after the filing and service upon the other spouse of a divorce complaint if both spouses will consent to the entry of the decree. If one spouse fails to consent to the entry of the decree, a no fault decree can be entered if the marriage is irretrievably broken and the spouses have been separated for at least two years.

With regard to the date of separation, please be advised that there is no such thing as a legal separation in Pennsylvania. In fact, in some circumstances, spouses can be separated even if they continue to reside in the same household.

What is a Divorce Decree?

A divorce decree is nothing more than an order of court declaring the end of a marriage. The divorce decree allows either spouse to remarry or leave their estate upon their death to the person of their choosing. While the decree itself may not necessarily be the most import aspect of a divorce case, the issues of equitable distribution and alimony cannot be resolved except in conjunction with obtaining the divorce decree.

Legal Annulments in Pennsylvania

Occasionally, people who live as a married couple learn that their marriage is not valid or legal. In this situation, a court may grant a legal annulment instead of a divorce. An annulment is a legal declaration that a valid marriage never existed. This differs from a divorce which declares a valid marriage is over.

In Pennsylvania, invalid marriages include situations such as when either party had an existing spouse at the time of the marriage, when the parties are blood relatives within a certain degree, or when either party could not consent because of a mental defect or other related reason. Other marriages may be declared void by Pennsylvania courts and an annulment granted if requested by one of the parties. In Pennsylvania, voidable marriages arise when the spouses are less than sixteen years of age and lack the consent of a parent or the court to marry, where either party was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, when either party was at the time of the marriage incurably impotent and when either party entered into the marriage as a result of fraud, duress, coercion, or force. Marriage is a contract, and if either individual was unable to enter into the contract, the court may determine that no contract of marriage ever existed.

Religious-based Annulments

An annulment granted through a church or religious-based entity is not the same as a legal annulment. Only a legal annulment or divorce gives the parties the right to remarry. A religious-based annulment gives the parties the right to remarry through their religious organization. A party in a religious-based annulment is not represented by a lawyer, but is often counseled through the process by a priest, minister or rabbi.