Divorcing a Covenant Marriage in Phoenix

Arizona maintains a “no-fault” divorce legal requirement provided that your marriage has been “irretrievably broken” and that both parties have agreed on parting ways. A covenant marriage in Arizona, however, has different grounds for divorce.

Defining a Covenant Marriage

As laid down by the Arizona Covenant Marriage Law of 1998, a couple wishing to bond under a covenant marriage must put into writing that both man and woman agree to “live together as husband and wife for as long as they both live.”

They must also acquire an affidavit that they have undergone premarital counseling from a marriage counselor or a member of the clergy. Not only soon-to-be wed couples can opt to enter a covenant marriage, for even already-married couples can change their existing marriage to a covenant one.

Divorcing a Covenant Marriage

Covenant marriages are considered harder to dissolute than regular marriages, for courts will only grant a divorce to couples if one of them has been guilty of any of these actions:

• Felony,
• Adultery,
• Physical or sexual abuse,
• Drug or alcohol abuse, or
• Abandonment. 

Aside from these, a court can grant a divorce for a couple that has been living separately for at least a year from the date of a legal separation or two years before filing the divorce. Also, a divorce can be granted if a spouse had abandoned his or her family for a year, or if both husband and wife agreed to part ways.