How do the grounds of adultery and cruelty work?
These grounds for ending the marriage require that the spouse bringing the action against the other spouse prove fault on the part of that spouse, i.e. that the spouse committed the specific act(s) of adultery or cruelty complained of. An application to the court to end the marriage based on either of these grounds can be brought without waiting for the one year period to elapse. Proving the commission of the act(s) in question in court can be problematical, especially when the other spouse contests the claim by denying having committed the act(s). Furthermore, in order to succeed on either of these grounds the spouse bringing the action must be innocent of any of the acts alleged to have been committed by the other spouse. Divorce proceedings based on either of these grounds can be arduous and expensive.
