Pennsylvania recognizes both fault-based and no-fault divorce. Understanding the distinction matters — it affects your timeline, your leverage, and potentially the outcome of property division.
Mutual consent (§ 3301(c)): Both spouses sign affidavits consenting to the divorce after 90 days from filing and service of the complaint. This is the fastest path — if both parties agree, the divorce can be finalized as soon as the 90-day waiting period expires. No hearing required.
Irretrievable breakdown / separation (§ 3301(d)): One spouse alleges the marriage is irretrievably broken and the parties have lived separate and apart for at least one year. The other spouse doesn't need to agree. After the one-year separation, the filing spouse files an affidavit and the court can grant the divorce even over the other spouse's objection — but the non-filing spouse has the right to a hearing to contest whether the marriage is irretrievably broken.
Grounds include: desertion for one year, adultery, cruel and barbarous treatment endangering life, bigamy, imprisonment for two or more years, and indignities rendering the condition intolerable. Fault divorces are less common today but can be strategically relevant — fault may affect alimony (spousal support) awards, though it has no bearing on property division (equitable distribution).
Do not finalize a divorce without addressing equitable distribution, alimony, and other economic claims. Once the divorce decree is entered, your right to raise these claims may be permanently waived if you haven't preserved them. This is one of the most consequential mistakes people make in DIY divorces.
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