Marriage, Divorce Grounds, and Jurisdiction and Venue
Formation and annulment
Marriage requires a license, solemnization, capacity, and no legal impediment. Void marriages include bigamous or incestuous ones; voidable marriages may be annulled for fraud, duress, incapacity, or impotence. Common-law marriage exists in a shrinking list of states and requires capacity, present agreement, and cohabitation plus reputation. A putative spouse may receive property rights despite an invalid marriage.
Grounds and defenses
No-fault grounds include irretrievable breakdown and living separate and apart. Fault grounds vary: adultery, cruelty, desertion, habitual drunkenness, imprisonment, and insanity. Defenses include condonation, connivance, recrimination, and collusion. Covenant marriage statutes in a few states restrict divorce grounds.
Jurisdiction and venue
A court needs subject-matter jurisdiction over the marital status, usually based on the plaintiff's domicile. Personal jurisdiction over the respondent is needed for support, property division, and attorney fees; minimum contacts or appearance will do. Under the divisible divorce doctrine, one state may dissolve the marriage while another later orders support. Venue statutes typically place the case where the parties reside or where the cause arose. Custody jurisdiction follows the UCCJEA, not ordinary venue rules.
Worked example
Wife moves to State A and files there. Husband never leaves State B and is served in B. State A may dissolve the marriage if wife is domiciled there, but it cannot divide husband's State B real estate or order support without personal jurisdiction unless he appears.
Traps
Treating residency and domicile as synonyms; assuming one court can decide every issue; ignoring UCCJEA; pleading venue facts incorrectly.