When can desertion be claimed in a marriage?

One year is generally considered the minimum. That is without support. If spouse supports you there is no desertion in Tennessee.

Never in California. California is a no fault divorce state. You don't have to prove anything and there is no gain for showing that the other side did something wrong. I can help you file and move your case towards and expeditious resolution. Please contact me for a free consultation.

In Maryland, a deserting spouse must be gone for one year before you can file a divorce complaint. The primary benefit to claiming desertion is that it enables you to file for divorce after one year of separation instead of two years.

There is no advantage to claiming desertion. However, you can receive a Default Order, which means that you can have the court order what you want without the opposing party participating in the process as long as you do service by publication in a newspaper in the town of the last known address of the party. You can file and request a default hearing within 30 days of the publication in the newspaper.

The California Family Code does not provide for abandonment as a grounds for divorce. California is a no fault state, meaning that the parties just need to show 'irreconcilable differences' to obtain a divorce (assuming that the parties have lived consecutively in California for the past six months and the County in which they file (or at least the Petitioner) for the past three months). If the spouse has just disappeared, you could file your Petition at any time. You will have some issues with service of the Summons. You will probably have to publish in a local newspaper of the last known city in which the spouse lived if you truly have no idea where to find your soon-to-be ex-spouse. There are various declarations you must make regarding your due diligence in locating the ex-spouse to inform he or she of the pending Hearing. Though 'desertion' is not a grounds for divorce in California, it is an important consideration for the Court when considering custody and visitation of children, setting spousal support, and partitioning or dividing property.

Desertion (sometimes referred to as abandonment) is generally irrelevant in Colorado (and most states) as a meaningful term because none of the issues to be decided in a divorce will be affected by a simple claim of "desertion". The simple answer to the question is that there is no specific advantage to "claiming desertion" because if that claim is made, the next question is "so what?". The concept of "desertion" only had meaning under former laws that required "fault" in order to obtain a divorce; under modern "no-fault divorce" law, whether or not one spouse "deserted" or not doesn't add anything to the case. Under no fault laws there is nothing that one party can claim that will prevent a divorce from being granted. Clearly, the act of "deserting/abandoning" a family and the family home may have some factual relevance in other decisions affecting custody of children, possession of the home or other property items, payment of debts, etc., but in such situations it is the circumstances and facts in each case that are relevant to the specific decision to be made - not simply the label. And, if the claim is simply made in a vacuum (e.g. unrelated to a specific issue) it will simply be ignored.

I do not believe there is a such a claim available for "desertion" in Calfornia law. California is a "no-fault" state so either spouse can file for divorce at any time. What the desertion does is give you an exact Date of Separation.