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In Maryland, there are 8 grounds for
an absolute divorce (to terminate the marriage): adultery; desertion for
12 continuous months; voluntary separation for 12 continuous months;
two-year separation; conviction of a felony or misdemeanor with
incarceration for at least 1 year under a sentence of 3 or more years;
insanity, with the spouse institutionalized for at least 3 years and the
insanity is incurable; cruelty of treatment; or excessively vicious
conduct.
To be “separated”, spouses must live in separate residences. With
limited exception, the separation is interrupted if spouses have sexual
relations with one another, resume living together, or even spend one
night together under the same roof, regardless of whether or not they
sleep in separate bedrooms. The Maryland Court of Appeals in Ricketts v.
Ricketts has carved out an exception to the separation requirement to
allow for divorce on grounds of constructive desertion with cessation of
marital relations when spouses reside under the same roof in separate
bedrooms.
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