Grounds for Divorce – Under What Circumstances Will the Marriage Be Dissolved?

Among the reasons that can be assessed as a serious breach of a fundamental obligation crucial to marriage, practice has crystallized, for example, infidelity, alcoholism, or the impossibility/unwillingness to satisfy the needs of the household or children.

Pursuant to Section 22 of Act No. 36/2005 Coll. on the Family and on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Acts (hereinafter referred to as the “Family Act”), the dissolution of marriage by divorce may be proceeded with only in justified cases. Generally, a marriage is dissolved if the relations are permanently disrupted and broken down within the meaning of the following provisions of the Family Act. In this case, the court examines whether the relations between the spouses can be restored, while concurrently and undeniably taking into account the best interests of minor children.

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Ordinarily, serious grounds that do not allow the marriage to continue further are required for a divorce. Consequently, the court examines whether these grounds have actually occurred. In the event that it would be possible to remedy the relations between the spouses, the court will not dissolve the marriage.

Spouses have rights and obligations in a marriage that the Family Act explicitly defines. It can be said that the fundamental obligations of spouses include, first and foremost, cohabitation, fidelity, mutual respect, the joint upbringing of children, and the creation of a healthy family environment (pursuant to Section 18, which determines the relations between spouses in this provision). Likewise, the obligations of spouses include child care or obligations relating to the financial aspect, such as caring for the needs of the household within the limits of their abilities and financial circumstances. If these relations have been permanently disrupted by at least one of the aforementioned reasons, the court will dissolve the marriage after examining whether the relations can be restored.

The entire court process is important in that it seeks to prevent divorces in cases where it is not necessary. On this basis, it endeavors to sufficiently evaluate the situation, in particular by granting the spouses an opportunity to express themselves directly in the proceedings. If it is found that the ground is not serious enough to prevent the marriage from being saved, there is no reason to dissolve it.

10 Most Common Grounds for Divorce

The palette of reasons for which a marriage can be dissolved is truly diverse and depends on the individual situation of each married couple. For this very reason, the Family Act (hereinafter referred to as the “FA”) does not list any specific grounds for divorce; it merely stipulates that these grounds must demonstrate a qualified breakdown of the marriage, where the marriage as such can no longer fulfill its function and objective (a harmonious and permanent community of life and ensuring the proper upbringing of children).

Pursuant to the judgment of the Regional Court in Banská Bystrica, file ref. no. 15CoP/14/2019: “Usually, the emergence and deepening of a serious breakdown of mutual relations between spouses is caused by multiple causes, which may be of an objective nature (e.g., separate living arrangements, infertility, interference by relatives) or of a subjective nature, which consist in the conscious conduct of one spouse or both spouses (e.g., infidelity, non-performance of fundamental marital obligations).”

Pursuant to Section 18 of the FA: “Spouses are equal in rights and obligations in marriage. They are obligated to live together, to be faithful to each other, to mutually respect their dignity, to help each other, to care jointly for their children, and to create a healthy family environment.”

Pursuant to Section 19(1) of the FA: “Both spouses are obligated to care for satisfying the needs of the family founded by marriage according to their abilities, possibilities, and financial circumstances. Satisfying the needs of the family also includes personal care for the children and the household.”

When a petition for divorce is filed, the court must always examine whether the individual obligations of the spouses pursuant to Section 18 and Section 19(1) of the FA have been breached, as well as whether the marriage still fulfills its functions (educational, economic, biological, reproductive, and the function of mutual support).

Among the most frequently cited grounds for divorce, the following can be mentioned:

• the spouses do not maintain personal contact, do not sleep together, and do not lead an intimate life,

• the spouses do not share common interests,

• there is a long-term divergence of opinions between the spouses on matters of common life, joint management of the household, spending leisure time, etc.,

• attempts to preserve or maintain the marriage have ended in failure (e.g., attending marital counseling for the purpose of understanding, resolving, and improving the marital relationship),

• the emotional bonds between the spouses are so seriously, permanently, and irretrievably disrupted that it cannot be expected that they will be restored,

• one of the spouses does not assist the other with the care of the children and the household,

• one of the spouses does not contribute sufficiently from a financial perspective to the running of the household or is long-term unemployed,

• the spouses do not live in a common household (one of them has moved out, e.g., to live with their new partner or their parents),

• one of the spouses has committed a criminal offense against the other (e.g., the misdemeanor of dangerous threatening),

• infidelity.

When Will the Court Not Dissolve a Marriage?

Cases in which a court dismisses a petition for divorce are very rare. Although the institution of marriage, which under ideal conditions should be a lifelong partnership, cannot be approached lightly, on the other hand, marriage remains a voluntary union in which no one can be forced to remain against their will without serious grounds (judgment of the Regional Court in Žilina, file ref. no. 10CoP/62/2020).

Pursuant to Section 22 of the Family Act (hereinafter referred to as the “FA”): “The dissolution of marriage by divorce may be proceeded with only in justified cases.” By reverse interpretation, it can be inferred that if the court does not consider the petitioner’s grounds for divorce to be sufficiently serious, it will dismiss the petition (e.g., if it considers that the disagreements between the spouses are remediable, for instance, through mutual communication). For the petition to be successful, it is therefore essential that the petitioner convincingly describes and explains in the petition why “the relations between the spouses are so seriously disrupted and permanently broken down that the marriage cannot fulfill its purpose and the restoration of marital cohabitation cannot be expected from the spouses (Section 23(1) of the FA).”

According to judicial practice, even “the fact that the petitioner was unable to verbally express herself at the hearing (in a stressful situation) regarding the questions concerning the causes of the breakdown of the marriage cannot constitute a ground for dismissing the petition for divorce (judgment of the Regional Court in Banská Bystrica, file ref. no. 15CoP/14/2019).”

However, even the dismissal of a petition for divorce does not prevent the spouses from filing a new petition for divorce. If the spouse/spouses prove that over the period since the dismissal of the initial petition for divorce their relationship has further deteriorated, meaning that it was not merely a short-term breakdown of their relationship, but that this breakdown (and its causes) persisted and deepened to such an extent that the marriage ceased to fulfill its social purpose from a long-term perspective (see, e.g., the decision of the Regional Court in Trenčín, file ref. no. 19Co/420/2016), the court will, with the utmost certainty, dissolve the marriage.

Is Infidelity a Ground for Divorce?

Fidelity to one another is one of the fundamental statutory and moral requirements imposed on spouses. Pursuant to Section 18 of the Family Act, spouses are “obligated to live together, to be faithful to each other, to mutually respect their dignity, to help each other, to care jointly for their children, and to create a healthy family environment.”

Although fidelity within a marital union is not directly legally enforceable and its breach is not penalized by law, infidelity is undoubtedly one of the most common grounds for divorce, which can demonstrate its breakdown. However, we recommend stating as many reasons as possible in the petition for divorce for which it is appropriate to dissolve the marriage. Even the fact that the spouses were unfaithful to each other might not, in the context of their specific life situation, convince the court that the best solution is to divorce the spouses (especially if they have minor children). Much will depend on whether the infidelity occurred only once or repeatedly, whether the unfaithful spouse regretted their behavior and showed an effort to remedy the marital relationship, whether they spend more time with a lover than with their family, which they neglect, etc.

Read more in our post: Can Infidelity Be a Ground for Divorce?

How to Get a Divorce Without Issues?

Whether the divorce will proceed without issues depends primarily on the willingness of the spouses to divorce peacefully. In such a case, the petition for divorce should be filed by both spouses. If the petition is filed by only one of them, while the other spouse does not agree and insists on preserving the marriage, it can be expected that they will file an appeal against the divorce judgment, thereby protracting the entire divorce process (appellate proceedings can take several months, sometimes up to a full year).

The Family Act (hereinafter referred to as the “FA”) also gives the spouses the opportunity to reach an agreement on matters concerning their family for the period after the divorce, e.g., on the regulation of the exercise of their parental rights and obligations towards their minor child (Section 24(4) of the FA), on the amount of child maintenance (Section 24(1) of the FA), or on the regulation of contact with the minor child (Section 25(1) of the FA). In the event that the spouses do not reach an agreement on these matters, the court will decide on their behalf.

In case you require assistance with a divorce or with the preparation of a petition for divorce, our law firm can provide you with legal representation. More information here: https://www.akmv.sk/pravne-sluzby/rozvod-manzelstva/