Gearheart v. Gearheart

By JUDGE F. L. HOBACK

The question presented in the instant case is whether or not a divorce can be granted under Section 20-91(9) of the 19S0 Code of Virginia, as amended, where one of the parties is insane.

Under the section referred to, the only apparent prerequisite for a divorce is that:

the husband and wife have lived separate and apart without any cohabitation and without interruption for two years.

There was no divorce at common law, and, accordingly, the jurisdiction to grant divorce is purely statutory, and the grounds are only those set out in the Statutes. (See Phelps, Divorce and…