Grounds for Contested Divorce: Special and General Grounds under TMK m.161-166

TMK m.161–165 govern adultery, attempt on life and grave or dishonourable treatment, degrading crime and dishonourable life, desertion and mental illness. Each has its own conditions. Article 163 also requires that continued life together cannot reasonably be expected; Article 165 requires intolerability of common life and an official medical-board finding that recovery is not possible. Proof of an event alone does not automatically establish every special ground.

Actions based on adultery and attempt on life must be filed within six months of the spouse learning of the ground for divorce and in any event within five years of the act (TMK m.161/2 and m.162/2). These are statutory time bars; once they have lapsed, the action cannot be filed.

Under TMK m.164, divorce may be sought where one spouse, with the intent of evading marital duties, deserts the other and the desertion has lasted at least six months, provided that the judicial or notarial warning has been served and the deserting spouse has not returned to the common dwelling within two months.

The warning is issued by a judge or notary and may, where necessary, be made by public notice. It cannot be requested before the fourth month of separation has ended, and proceedings cannot begin until two months after the warning. It must explain the return to the common home and the consequences of failure to return; the genuineness and feasibility of the invitation must also be assessed.

Under TMK m.166/1, where the marital union has been shaken at its foundations to a degree that the spouses can no longer be expected to maintain a common life, either spouse may bring an action for divorce. If the petitioner's fault is graver, the respondent has the right to object (TMK m.166/2).

In such cases the judge examines the parties' fault, whether the marriage has in fact become intolerable, and whether reconciliation is possible. The allocation of fault plays a decisive role in claims for damages and alimony.

In family-law matters, the legal assessment is made by taking into account the fault of the parties, the best interest of the children, their economic circumstances, and the lawfulness of the evidence. Message records, witness statements, bank transactions, medical reports and police reports become effective only when submitted in proper form.

Claims for divorce, support, custody, compensation and division of matrimonial property may produce independent outcomes. The petition must therefore clearly set out which claim is based on which facts and which evidence.

In disputes concerning children, the court takes into account the child's physical, emotional, educational and social needs rather than the parties' assertions. Social-investigation reports, school arrangements, health condition and the parents' communication style play an important role in the court's assessment.