Cruelty and Vicious Conduct as a ground for Divorce in Maryland

A grounds for divorce in Maryland does include cruelty or excessively vicious conduct. The court's view point on this issue have changed greatly over the years as to what type conduct will justify the court granting an absolute divorce.

The specific grounds for absolute divorce on cruelty are found in Family Law § 7-103 (a) (7) & (8) the Court may decree an absolute divorce based upon cruelty of treatment toward the complaining party or a minor child of the complaining party, if there is no reasonable hope of reconciliation or if there is excessively vicious conduct toward the complaining party or a minor child of the complaining party, if there is no reasonable expectation of reconciliation.

The Court has addressed this issue in the matter of Das v. Das, 133 Md. App. 1, 754 A.2d 441 (2000), therein the court found a basis for granting the absolute divorce on the grounds of cruelty and excessively vicious conduct. The case provides an excellent outline of the changing nature of the Court’s understanding of cruelty in today’s modern era of enlightenment. In Das the court was persuaded most with the issuance of a protective order and wife’s stated health problems due to stress. The factual basis for granting an absolute divorce in Das was further supported by evidence of the history of violence between Husband and Wife which justified entry of a one-year protective order in January 1998, and also noted this was “one in several cases of domestic violence.” Further the court considered the Wife testimony that husband was “making me stay up all night in order to listen to him, isolating me from my friends and from my family, and not allowing contact as much as possible. Hitting, pinching, pulling hair, etc., were also noted to the point health problems, including cardiac arrhythmia brought on by the “stress of the marriage and the tensions at home.” Wife also spoke about her fear of Husband's taunting questions about what she might do when the protective order expired. The court also noted the fact that the police came to the house.