Cincinnati Family Law & Divorce Blog: Is Ohio a No Fault State?

According to Ohio statutes, grounds must exist to terminate a marriage by divorce.  There are eleven grounds that permit a court to terminate a marriage.  The first nine listed are considered “fault” grounds and the tenth ground of “living separate and apart without cohabitation for one year” is considered a “no fault” ground.  Technically, incompatibility is not a ground for divorce, rather a status of the marriage that must be agreed upon by both parties which when agreed upon, allows a court to grant a divorce.   As a practical matter, the majority of divorces are granted because the parties agree they are incompatible.  The reason many people are seeking a divorce due to incompatibility or living separate and apart for more than one year is to avoid public accusations of wrongdoing.   In the rare case where the parties do not agree that they are incompatible and they have not lived apart for...