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 9  AN ACT concerning divorce; relating to grounds; amending K.S.A. 60-
10    1601 and repealing the existing section.
11
12  Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:
13    Section 1.  K.S.A. 60-1601 is hereby amended to read as follows: 60-
14  1601. (a) The district court shall grant a decree of divorce or separate
15  maintenance for any of the following grounds: (1) Incompatibility; (2)
16  failure to perform a material marital duty or obligation; or (3) incompat-
17  ibility by reason of mental illness or mental incapacity of one or both
18  spouses.
19    (1)  If both parties voluntarily consent to the divorce; and
20    (A)  the parties do not have a minor child;
21    (B)  neither party is the physical custodian of a minor child at the time
22  of filing the complaint for divorce;
23    (C)  the wife is not pregnant with a child whose father is the husband
24  at the time of the filing; and
25    (D)  there is a breakdown of the marriage relationship to the extent
26  that the objects of matrimony have been destroyed and there remains no
27  reasonable likelihood that the marriage can be preserved; or
28    (2)  if one spouse objects to the divorce, or if the parties have a minor
29  child; if either party is the physical custodian of a minor at the time of
30  the filing of the complaint for divorce; or if the wife is pregnant with a
31  child whose father is the husband at the time of filing:
32    The party to the marriage filing for divorce shall allege in the complaint
33  one or more of the following regarding the other party to the marriage:
34    (A)  Gross neglect of marital duty;
35    (B)  incompatibility by reason of mental illness or mental incapacity
36  of one or both spouses;
37    (C)  incompatibility by reason of impotency;
38    (D)  adultery;
39    (E)  pregnancy by the wife at the time of the marriage by a person
40  other than her husband;
41    (F)  extreme cruelty;
42    (G)  habitual use of alcohol or a controlled substance;
43    (H)  abandonment for one or more years; or
SB 312
                                     

 1    (I)  conviction and imprisonment for a felony subsequent to the mar-
 2  riage. If a divorce is granted under this subdivision, a pardon or other
 3  alteration of the party's sentence or conviction does not restore the mar-
 4  riage.
 5    (b)  The ground of incompatibility by reason of mental illness or men-
 6  tal incapacity of one or both spouses shall require a finding of either: (1)
 7  Confinement of the spouse in an institution by reason of mental illness
 8  for a period of two years, which confinement need not be continuous; or
 9    (2) an adjudication of mental illness or mental incapacity of the spouse
10  by a court of competent jurisdiction while the spouse is confined in an
11  institution by reason of mental illness. In either case, there must be a
12  finding by at least two of three physicians, appointed by the court before
13  which the action is pending, that the mentally ill or mentally incapacitated
14  spouse has a poor prognosis for recovery from the mental illness or mental
15  incapacity, based upon general knowledge available at the time. A decree
16  granted on the ground of incompatibility by reason of mental illness or
17  mental incapacity of one or both spouses shall not relieve a party from
18  contributing to the support and maintenance of the mentally ill or men-
19  tally incapacitated spouse. If both spouses are confined to institutions
20  because of mental illness or mental incapacity, the guardian of either
21  spouse may file a petition for divorce and the court may grant the divorce
22  on the ground of incompatibility by reason of mental illness or mental
23  incapacity.
24    (c)  In determining if the grounds for a divorce or separate mainte-
25  nance filed under subsection (a)(2) are valid, the court shall consider the
26  amount of time that has passed since the occurrence of the alleged event
27  or the last of the events upon which the complaint is filed.
28    Sec. 2.  K.S.A. 60-1601 is hereby repealed.
29    Sec. 3.  This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its
30  publication in the statute book.