Getting Divorced
Ala. Code § 30-2-1 — an irretrievable breakdown or incompatibility, and no final judgment for 30 days after filing
The circuit court grants a divorce on a complaint by either spouse. Either may ask for one when the court finds an irretrievable breakdown of the marriage with further attempts at reconciliation impractical or futile, or such a complete incompatibility of temperament that the two can no longer live together.
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- Other grounds include adultery, voluntary abandonment for one year before filing, and habitual drunkenness or drug use after marriage.
- Actual violence attended with danger to life or health, or conduct giving reasonable fear of it, is a ground for the other spouse.
- So is imprisonment for two years on a sentence of seven years or longer.
When the other spouse lives outside Alabama, the spouse filing has been a bona fide resident of the state for six months before filing, and says so in the complaint and proves it.
Thirty days, with temporary orders in between. No final judgment of divorce is entered until 30 days after the summons and complaint are filed. In the meantime the court can make temporary orders on custody, support, visitation, who stays in the home, and restraining the parties.
Sources for this section (3)
- Ala. Code § 30-2-1 — Grounds; Jurisdiction for Proceedings; Divorce Judgment Awarded to Both Parties
- Ala. Code § 30-2-5 — Residency Requirement for Plaintiff When Defendant Nonresident
- Ala. Code § 30-2-8.1 — Waiting Period Prior to Issuance of Final Judgment of Divorce; Temporary Orders Prior to Expiration of Waiting Period
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Alabama attorney.