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Covenant Marriage Divorces

The divorce process is the same for a covenant marriage and a non-covenant marriage. For additional information, see the Divorce page. However, persons in covenant marriages must meet stricter grounds in order to seek a divorce.

To seek a divorce in a covenant marriage you must meet one of the following requirements:

1. The respondent spouse committed adultery,
2. The respondent spouse has committed a felony and has been sentenced to death or imprisonment,
3. The respondent spouse has abandoned the matrimonial domicile for at least one year before the petitioner filed for dissolution of marriage and refuses to return,
4. The respondent spouse has physically or sexually abused the spouse seeking dissolution of the marriage, a child, a relative of either spouse permanently living in the matrimonial domicile or has committed domestic violence as defined in A.R.S. § 13-3601 or emotional abuse,
5. The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconciliation for at least two years before the petitioner filed for dissolution of marriage,
6. The spouses have been living separate and apart continuously without reconcilation for at least one year from the date the decree of legal separation was entered,
7. The respondent spouse has habitually abused drugs or alcohol, or
8. The husband and wife both agree to a dissolution of marriage. A.R.S. § 25-903.

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