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#your spouse has treated you with such physical or mental cruelty that you cannot continue to live together.
In Canada, all divorces proceed on a "no-fault " basis, regardless of the ground of divorce marriage breakdown relied upon. ''No-fault'', in this context, means that the reasons for marriage breakdown have nothing at all to do with the how court's consideration of deals with issues like custody parenting children and paying support. No matter how upset someone is you are by a your spouse's misbehaviourbehaviour, it their behaviour will have no impact on how the court resolves the legal issues are addressedresulting from your separation.
Most divorces — almost all of them, in fact — are based on separation. The only "advantage " of seeking claiming a divorce based on cruelty or adultery is that the your divorce order is available relatively quickly— you needn't wait to be separated for a full year's worth of separation to pass before you are eligible can ask for the order. However, while the downside of divorces based on cruelty or adultery is that you have to prove that the cruelty or adultery occurred. As you can imagine, not all that many people are eligible prepared to begin divorce proceedings admit that they committed adultery or abused their spouse, and, as soon as you learn of the a result, divorces based on cruelty or adultery or experience rarely proceed smoothly. In fact, where a court action has dragged on long enough that more than a year has passed before the crueltycase finally comes to court, you must be able many judges will refuse to prove that hear evidence of cruelty or adultery and will grant the other spouse committed divorce instead on the wrongful behaviour you allegebasis of separation.
To obtain a divorce based on separation for a period of at least one year, you and your spouse must have lived separate and apart for that year. The period of living separate and apart can pass while living under the same roof, however, the marital qualities of your relationship with your spouse must have ended.
The ''Divorce Act'' provides that a couple can attempt to reconcile and resume married life for up to 90 days during this one-year period. If the couple live together for a total period of more than 90 days with the intention of getting back together, the clock resets and a new one-year period will not start running until after the couple separates again.
====Adultery====
A spouse who is claiming that the other spouse is guilty of adultery must prove this claim in court. Before the court will pronounce the order for divorce, the court must also be satisfied that the party making the claim has not ''condoned'' the adultery or ''connived'' to effect the adultery. If the court is not satisfied, it will not grant the divorce.
Many people will have seen the movie "Intolerable Cruelty," which lays a great deal of emphasis on the punitive consequences of adultery, and suggests that spouses caught with their pants down are going to lose everything they have. That might be true in the US, but it certainly isn't true in Canada. In Canada, there are no consequences for marital offences of that nature: you won't lose your house, you won't lose the children, and you won't find yourself living in a cardboard box. Adultery, while relevant as a ground of divorce, plays no role in the court's determination of these other issues.
====Cruelty====
A spouse who claims that the other spouse is guilty of cruelty must prove their claim in court. Cruelty can consist of physical abuse or mental abuse, and may also give rise to a claim for an award of damages as a result of the cruelty. Before the court will pronounce the divorce order, it must be satisfied that the party making the claim has not ''condoned'' the cruelty.