113. Desertion generally. 114. Desertion in case of stratagem or fraud. 115. Departure or absence because of cruelty or threats. 116. Separation by consent. 117. Absence becoming desertion. 118. Consent to separate as revocable. 119. Return as curing desertion; effect of refusing condonation. 121. Habitual drunkenness. 122. Extreme cruelty. SUBCHAPTER II-CAUSES FOR DENYING DIVORCE 151. Acts or circumstances prohibiting divorce. 152. Connivance. 153. Corrupt consent. 154. Collusion. 155. Condonation generally. 156. Requisites to condonation. 157. Implication by condonation. 158. Evidence of condonation. 159. Time when condonation can be made. 160. Concealment as voiding condonation. 161. Revocation of condonation. 162. Recrimination generally. 163. Condonation as bar to recriminatory defense. SUBCHAPTER III-PROCEDURE IN DIVORCE ACTIONS 191. Jurisdiction and venue of divorce actions. 192. Residence requirements. 193. Procedure generally. 194. Complaint. 195. Counterclaim for divorce. 196. Uncontested actions; default; additional notice. 197. Admissions of defendant. 198. Interlocutory order; appeal; final decree of divorce. 199. Effect of divorce generally. 200. Legitimacy of children. 201. Resumption of former name. 202. Decrees and orders prior to September 21, 1922. SUBCHAPTER IV—ALIMONY, SUPPORT, CUSTODY, AND PROPERTY 231. Custody and care of children pending action. 232. Alimony pending action. 233. Maintenance where divorce is denied. 234. Separate maintenance action. 235. Alimony and maintenance; care, custody and support of children. 237. Withholding allowance to prevailing party. 238. Subjection of property to support and education of children. 239. Disposition of community property on divorce. 240. Compelling conveyance of property belonging to other spouse. § 111. Subchapter I-Causes for Divorce Enumeration of causes for divorce A divorce or dissolution of the marriage contract may be judicially causes: (1) adultery subsequent to the marriage; (2) willful desertion or absence from the husband or wife for (3) willful neglect, consisting of the willful failure of the husband to provide for his wife the necessaries of life, he having the ability to do so, or the willful failure to do so by reason of voluntary idleness, profligacy, or dissipation, in either case continued for a period of one year; (4) habitual drunkenness for a period of two years; (5) attempt, by the husband or wife, on the life of the other by any means showing malice; (6) extreme cruelty; or (7) conviction, subsequent to the marriage, of a felony. § 112. Adultery Adultery is the voluntary sexual intercourse of a married person with a person other than the offender's husband or wife. § 113. Desertion generally (a) Willful desertion is the voluntary separation of one of the married parties from the other with intent to desert. (b) Persistent refusal to have reasonable matrimonial intercourse as husband and wife, when health or physical condition does not make the refusal reasonably necessary, or the refusal without just cause of either party to dwell in the same house with the other party, is desertion. § 114. Desertion in case of stratagem or fraud If one party is induced, by the strategem or fraud of the other party, to leave the family dwelling place, or to be absent, and during the absence the offending party departs with intent to desert the other, it is desertion by the party committing the stratagem or fraud, and not by the other. § 115. Departure or absence because of cruelty or threats Departure or absence of one party from the family dwelling place, caused by extreme cruelty or by threats of bodily harm from which danger would be reasonably apprehended from the other, is not desertion by the absent party, but it is desertion by the other party. § 116. Separation by consent Separation by consent, with or without the understanding that one of the parties will apply for a divorce, is not desertion. § 117. Absence becoming desertion Absence or separation, proper in itself, becomes desertion whenever the intent to desert is fixed during the absence or separation. § 118. Consent to separate as revocable Consent to a separation is a revocable act, and if one of the parties afterwards, in good faith, seeks a reconciliation and restoration, but the other refuses it, the refusal is desertion. § 119. Return as curing desertion; effect of refusing condonation If one party deserts the other, and, before the expiration of the statutory period required to make the desertion a cause of divorce, returns and offers in good faith to fulfill the marriage contract, and solicits condonation, the desertion is cured. If the other party refuses the offer and condonation, the refusal shall be deemed and treated as desertion by that party from the time of refusal. § 120. Husband's selection of home or mode of living (a) The husband may choose any reasonable place or mode of living, and if the wife does not conform thereto, it is desertion on her part. (b) If the place or mode of living selected by the husband is unreasonable and grossly unfit, and the wife does not conform thereto, it is desertion on the part of the husband from the time her reasonable objections are made known to him. § 121. Habitual drunkenness Habitual drunkenness is that degree of intemperance from the use of intoxicating drinks which: (1) disqualifies the person a great portion of the time from properly attending to business; or (2) would reasonably inflict a course of great mental anguish upon the innocent party. § 122. Extreme cruelty Extreme cruelty is the wrongful infliction of grievous bodily injury, or grievous mental suffering, upon the other by one party to the marriage. Subchapter II-Causes for Denying Divorce § 151. Acts or circumstances prohibiting divorce Divorces shall be denied upon showing: (1) connivance; (2) collusion; (3) condonation; (4) recrimination; or (5) limitation and lapse of time. § 152. Connivance Connivance is the corrupt consent of one party to the commission of the acts of the other, constituting the cause of divorce. § 153. Corrupt consent Corrupt consent is manifested by passive permission with intent to connive at or actively procure the commission of the acts complained of. § 154. Collusion Collusion is an agreement between husband and wife that one of them shall commit, or appear to have committed, or to be represented in court as having committed, acts constituting a cause of divorce, for the purpose of enabling the other to obtain a divorce. § 155. Condonation generally Condonation is the conditional forgiveness of a matrimonial offense constituting a cause of divorce. § 156. Requisites to condonation The following requisites are necessary to condonation: (1) a knowledge on the part of the condoner of the facts constituting the cause of divorce; (2) reconciliation and remission of the offense by the injured party; and (3) restoration of the offending party to all marital rights. § 157. Implication by condonation Condonation implies a condition subsequent; that the forgiving party must be treated with conjugal kindness. § 158. Evidence of condonation Where the cause of divorce consists of a course of offensive conduct, or arises, in cases of cruelty, from excessive acts of ill treatment which may aggregately constitute the offense, cohabitation, or passive endurance, or conjugal kindness, is not evidence of condonation of any of the acts constituting the cause, unless accompanied by an express agreement to condone. § 159. Time when condonation can be made In cases mentioned in section 158 of this title, condonation can be made only after the cause of divorce has become complete as to the acts complained of. § 160. Concealment as voiding condonation A fraudulent concealment by the condonee of facts constituting a different cause of divorce from the one condoned, and existing at the time of condonation, avoids the condonation. § 161. Revocation of condonation Condonation is revoked and the original cause of divorce revived when the condonee: or (1) commits acts constituting a like or other cause of divorce; (2) is guilty of great conjugal unkindness, not amounting to a cause of divorce, but sufficiently habitual and gross to show that the conditions of condonation had not been accepted in good faith, or not fulfilled. § 162. Recrimination generally Recrimination is a showing by the defendant of a cause of divorce against the plaintiff, in bar of the plaintiff's cause for divorce. § 163. Condonation as bar to recriminatory defense Condonation of a cause of divorce, shown in the answer as a recriminatory defense, is a bar to the defense unless: (1) the condonation is revoked as provided in section 161 of this title; or (2) two years have elapsed after the condonation, and before the accruing or completion of the cause of divorce against which the recrimination is shown. § 164. Lapse of time as bar to divorce; limitations (a) A divorce shall be denied: (1) when the cause is adultery and the action is not commenced within two years after the commission of the act of adultery, or after its discovery by the injured party: (2) when the cause is conviction of felony, and the action is not commenced before the expiration of two years after a pardon, or the termination of the period of sentence; or (3) in all other cases when there is an unreasonable lapse of time before the commencement of the action. (b) There are no limitations of time for commencing actions for divorce, except those contained in subsection (a) of this section. § 165. Presumptions arising from lapse of time Unreasonable lapse of time is such a delay in commencing the action as establishes the presumption that there has been connivance, collusion, or condonation of the offense, or full acquiescence in the same, with intent to continue the marriage relation notwithstanding the commission of the offense. § 166. Rebuttal of presumptions The presumptions arising from lapse of time may be rebutted by showing reasonable grounds for the delay in commencing the action. Subchapter III-Procedure in Divorce Actions § 191. Jurisdiction and venue of divorce actions (a) The district court has jurisdiction of actions for divorce. (b) Complaints for divorce shall be filed in the division of the district court in which the plaintiff resides. § 192. Residence requirements (a) A person is a resident of the Canal Zone for the purpose of this chapter, although he may not have acquired a permanent domicile within the Canal Zone, if he: (1) has an official residence within the territorial limits of the Canal Zone; or (2) resides therein for the purpose of an occupation or employment. (b) A plaintiff who has not actually resided in the Canal Zone continuously during the entire year next preceding the filing of the complaint is not entitled to a divorce. (c) The plaintiff shall prove the required residence, to the satisfaction of the court, by at least two witnesses who are residents of the Canal Zone. He shall file an affidavit with the complaint stating the: (1) length of time the plaintiff has resided in the Canal Zone; § 193. Procedure generally Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, the process and practice in proceedings for divorce are the same as in other civil actions in which equitable relief is sought. § 194. Complaint In an action for divorce the complaint shall set forth, among other matters, as near as can be ascertained, the following facts: (1) State or country in which the parties were married; (2) date of marriage; (3) date of separation; (4) number of years from marriage to separation; (5) number of children of the marriage, if any, and, if none, a statement of that fact; and (6) ages of minor children. § 195. Counterclaim for divorce In his answer, the defendant may file a counterclaim for divorce; and when filed the court shall decree the divorce to the party legally entitled thereto. If the original complaint is dismissed after the filing of the counterclaim, the defendant may proceed to the trial of the counterclaim without further notice to the adverse party; and the proceedings on the counterclaim are governed by the same rules as are applicable to the proceedings on an original complaint. § 196. Uncontested actions; default; additional notice (a) If the complaint is taken as confessed, the court shall proceed to hear the cause by examination of witnesses in open court, unless it otherwise orders pursuant to section 271 of Title 3. (b) In case of default the court may not grant a divorce unless it is satisfied that: (1) all proper means have been taken to notify the defendant of the pendency of the suit; and (2) the cause of divorce has been fully proved by competent evidence. (c) When the court is satisfied that the interests of the defendant require it, the court may order such additional notice as it considers equitable. § 197. Admissions of defendant In proceedings for divorce, an admission of the defendant may not be taken as evidence unless the court is satisfied that the admission was made in sincerity and without fraud or collusion to enable the plaintiff to obtain a divorce. |