Divorce

Grounds are legally acceptable reasons for divorce. You can get a divorce in Oklahoma without claiming that your spouse is at fault for reasons of “incompatibility.” If you get a divorce because of incompatibility and you have a minor child, you and your spouse must go to a class about the impact of divorce on your child.

The judge can also grant you a divorce in Oklahoma for certain “fault-based” grounds. The judge can grant you a fault-based divorce for the following reasons:

1. abandonment for one year;
2. adultery;
3. impotence;
4. if the wife was pregnant by another man when the couple got married;
5. extreme cruelty;
6. fraudulent contract;
7. habitual drunkenness;
8. gross neglect of duty;
9. if either spouse is in jail or prison for a felony when the divorce petition is filed;
10. if either spouse gets a divorce decree in another state, but that decree is not valid in Oklahoma;
11. insanity, if all of the following are true:
    
    1. either spouse has been insane for at least five years;
    2. either spouse has been in a state institution in Oklahoma or another state, or in a private institution for the insane for at least five years; and
    3. three doctors have examined the insane spouse, including the superintendent of the spouse’s institution, and at least two of these doctors agree that the spouse has a poor chance of recovery from the insanity.Note: A divorce granted on grounds of insanity may mean the spouse who files for divorce still have to pay for the support and maintenance of the insane spouse.¹.

¹ OK ST T. 43 § 101