Filing for Divorce in Rhode Island

• Impotency.
• Adultery, meaning your spouse had an affair.
• Extreme cruelty.
• Willful desertion, meaning your spouse left without good reason and has been gone for at least five years (or less, if the court allows).
• Continued drunkenness.
• Habitual drug use.
• Neglect and refusal, meaning your spouse refuses to contribute toward basic necessities.
• Gross misbehavior and wickedness, meaning actions that totally go against the idea and spirit of marriage.  

You also may file for divorce if you and your spouse have lived apart for at least three years, whether voluntarily or involuntarily. And you may file based on the ground of irreconcilable differences, if they’re so severe that your marriage can’t be saved.  

The court will not grant a divorce when there is evidence of collusion, meaning it appears that the absence, adultery, cruelty, desertion or other ground for divorce was committed with the intention of getting a divorce.  

4. How does Rhode Island determine the division of property?    
You and your spouse are encouraged to come up with a settlement on your own and present it to the court. If you can’t agree, the court will divide your property for you. The court will divvy your property in whatever way it finds fair. In determining what is fair, the court will take into consideration:

• How long you were married.
• You and your spouse’s behavior during your marriage.
• You and your spouse’s contributions to the acquisition, preservation or appreciation of your property, including as a homemaker.
• You and your spouse’s ages and health.
• You and your spouse’s amounts and sources of income.
• You and your spouse’s occupations and employability.
• You and your spouse’s future opportunities to acquire assets and income.
• Any contributions one of you made to the other’s education, training, business or increased earning power.
• Whether the custodial parent needs to live in or own your family home for the best interest of your child.
• Whether you or your spouse wasted or hid your assets in anticipation of your divorce.
• Any other factor the court considers relevant.  

Any property that you owned before you were married or that you received via gift or inheritance remains your own separate property. But any income earned from that property during your marriage may be divided, as well as any appreciation or interest in that property if you or your spouse expended any effort during your marriage to earn it. Your property will be divided before the court considers alimony, because your needs may change based on what property is awarded to each of you.  

5. Does Rhode Island require mediation before a divorce is granted?  
Mediation is not always required, but the court may order it if you and your spouse disagree over child custody or visitation. There are three scenarios:

• The court may postpone your case until you’ve completed mediation; it will decide custody and visitation if you and your spouse fail to reach an agreement.
• The court may handle other parts of your case while you and your spouse are in mediation for custody and visitation; it will handle those issues separately if you fail to reach an agreement.
• The court may complete the trial of all issues in your case and order mediation at the end, postponing your decree until you’ve completed mediation.