When you married your spouse, you thought the two of you would be together forever. Because of his or her misconduct, though, your husband or wife is now facing a lengthy prison sentence. While there certainly is nothing wrong with standing by your spouse, you might not like the prospect of being in a marriage with someone you rarely see.
According to the New Jersey Judiciary, to qualify for a divorce, you only must have irreconcilable differences with your spouse. While the possibility of your spouse’s incarceration might cause you to have irreconcilable differences, imprisonment is a fault-based reason for divorce.
What is a no-fault divorce?
Like many other states, New Jersey allows married couples to divorce without blaming someone for the demise of the marriage. If you intend to cite irreconcilable differences in your divorce filing, you can have a no-fault divorce.
What is a fault divorce?
Even though the Garden State permits no-fault divorce, state law also allows divorcing couples to have a fault-based divorce. Incarceration is one ground to support such a divorce. A judge might consider your spouse’s incarceration when making certain decisions, such as whether to award spousal support to you.
There are some advantages and disadvantages to proceeding with a fault-based divorce, of course. When deciding which type of divorce is right for you, you should carefully analyze each of these. Ultimately, though, if your spouse is likely to go to prison for years or decades, using his or her incarceration to justify ending your marriage may make sense.
