A Spouse’s Mental Illness and the Divorce Process

Divorce is never an easy decision. However, there are unique challenges that might develop when one spouse is afflicted with a mental illness, and the couple chooses to separate. The divorce proceedings and the ultimate conclusion of your case may be influenced by your relationship with your spouse, who has a mental illness.

Knowing what to expect is crucial before beginning. When contemplating divorce from a mentally ill spouse, you may have many questions and can look up a divorce attorney near me.

Divorce and Mental Health: What the Research Says 

Some of the most often mentioned mental health issues in studies that led to divorce were:

• Manic depression,
• Clinical depression,
• Problems with anxiousness in general,
• Severe anxiety,
• As a result of traumatic events, and
• Drug or alcohol dependency.

Mental disease is neither preventable nor easily manageable. However, it is undeniable that a marriage can be significantly affected when one partner suffers from a mental condition.

In Alabama, May a Mental Illness be Used as a Basis for a Divorce?

Put simply, no. One of the specified reasons for divorce in Alabama is physical incapacity, not mental disease. The parties may pursue a variety of grounds for divorce in circumstances involving mental illness.

As an illustration, a for-cause divorce can be granted under Alabama Code Section 30-2-1 in cases:

• One or both partners develop a chronic substance abuse problem;
• The two people involved are temperamentally incompatible and so cannot coexist;
• For at least five years in a row, one partner has been a patient at a mental health facility;

One partner has either physically harmed the other or caused them to fear physical harm reasonably.

You can bolster your arguments for a divorce in any of these cases by providing evidence of a mental disorder.

Reasons to Think About Child Custody

The fundamental consideration for courts in determining child custody is the well-being of the child. Courts typically regard the child’s best interest as one of the factors.  On the other hand, in cases when a parent suffers from a mental condition, the court might take into account things like:

• The health of the parent’s mind in general;
• Identifying the specific mental disorder(s) and their severity;
• How well each parent can keep their child safe and secure at home;
• The ability of each parent to meet the child’s requirements; and
• The influence that a child’s mental disorder may have on their general health.