Divorce courts in Pennsylvania allow for the fault and no fault grounds in filing for divorce. A divorce on the ground of no fault is provided if the marriage is irreversibly broken and this should be stated in the divorce petition. In addition, an affidavit alleging that the parties have been separated for two or more years is filed together with the divorce petition. The party filing the divorce petition is allowed to do so under the arguments which include adultery, bigamy, and cruel treatment, incarceration for two years and wilful and malicious desertion for one year. The Pennsylvania divorce laws provide that in the case of a no fault divorce, a minimum period of 90 days from the day of filing must pass before a divorce is granted.
Before commencing an action for divorce or annulment under the Pennsylvania divorce laws, at least one of the spouses must be a resident of Pennsylvania for more than six months. There must be mutual consent from both parties in form of affidavit from each party as a legal ground for granting of the divorce by the court. Another ground on which the court may grant a divorce is a case of one spouse suffering insanity or severe mental illness that which has led to institutionalisation of the party for over 18 months prior to the initialising an action. The party filing the action needs to show that there is no plausible prospect that the institutionalised spouse will be discharged for the following 18 months.
The Pennsylvania divorce laws allow the court to divide equitably, distribute, or assign the marital wealth in kind or otherwise between the two parties. The distribution of property is done in such a proportion and in a manner that the court may deem fit regardless of the marital misconduct. Personal property belonging to either party but acquired during their marriage is presumed by the Pennsylvania divorce laws to be marital property.
The court may direct alimony to either party if it deems it necessary. The earning capacities of the parties, sources of income, living standard during marriage, the marriage duration and education of the parties are some of the considerations a court looks into before deciding whether to award alimony. The Pennsylvania divorce laws provide that the custody of the children and visitation plan should be decided by the court based on the best welfare and interest of the child. In ruling on the child custody the court evaluates the child preference, ability of each party to offer emotional, physical and intellectual well-being of the child and criminal conduct of either parent. A decision is also made regarding the child support and this is based on the net income of both parents. A change in financial circumstances can result into a modification of the decision on the child support by the court.