Marriage and Divorce Laws of the World Part 29

4. When either party has wilfully deserted or absented himself or herself from the wife or husband, without any reasonable cause, for the s.p.a.ce of two years.

5. When either party has been guilty of habitual drunkenness for the s.p.a.ce of two years.

6. When either party has attempted the life of the other by poison or other means showing malice.

7. When either party has been guilty of extreme and repeated cruelty.

8. When either party has been convicted of felony or other infamous crime.

Limited divorces are not granted in this State.

INDIAN TERRITORY.

The laws of marriage and divorce in the Indian Territory are the same as those of Arkansas, except in the matter of marriage impediments, and in a few minor details.

By an Act of Congress applicable to all Territories of the United States, marriages within and not including the four degrees of consanguinity, computed according to the civil law, are forbidden.

INDIANA.

MARRIAGE.--Males must be at least 18 years and females 16 years of age.

Marriage is a civil contract which can be celebrated before any qualified clergyman, judge or magistrate.

IMPEDIMENTS.--Marriages between ascendants and descendants, or being persons of nearer kin than second cousin, are prohibited.

A lawful marriage cannot be concluded between a white person and another person possessed of one-eighth or more of negro blood.

CAUSES FOR ABSOLUTE DIVORCE:

1. Adultery.

2. Impotency existing at the time of the marriage.

3. Abandonment for two years.

4. Cruel and inhuman treatment of either party by the other.

5. Habitual drunkenness of either party.

6. The failure of the husband to make reasonable provision for his family for a period of two years.

7. The conviction, subsequent to the marriage, in any country, of either party, of an infamous crime.

Limited divorces are granted for husband's desertion, or failure to support his wife.

IOWA.

MARRIAGE.--A male must be at least 16 and a female 14 to conclude marriage.

IMPEDIMENTS.--The prohibited degrees of consanguinity and affinity are the same as those of Illinois.

CAUSES FOR ABSOLUTE DIVORCE:

1. Against the husband when he has committed adultery subsequent to the marriage.

2. When he wilfully deserts his wife and absents himself without a reasonable cause for the s.p.a.ce of two years.

3. When he is convicted of a felony after the marriage.

4. When, after marriage, he becomes addicted to habitual drunkenness.

5. When he is guilty of such inhuman treatment as to endanger the life of his wife.

6. Against the wife for the causes above specified, and also when the wife at the time of the marriage was pregnant by another than her husband, unless such husband have an illegitimate child or children then living, which was unknown to the wife at the time of their marriage.

There is no limited divorce allowed in this State.

KANSAS.

MARRIAGE.--No male under 17 years or female under 15 years of age may contract marriage without the consent of their parents and the probate judge of the district.

IMPEDIMENTS.--The prohibited degrees are the same as those of Iowa.

Marriage is a civil contract which may be celebrated before a clergyman or magistrate.

CAUSES FOR DIVORCE.--Abandonment for one year; adultery; impotency; extreme cruelty; fraudulent contract; habitual drunkenness; gross neglect of duty; the conviction of a felony and imprisonment in the penitentiary therefor subsequent to the marriage.

KENTUCKY.

MARRIAGE.--A male must be at least 14 years and a female 12 years.

Marriages below these ages are prohibited and void, but the courts having general equity jurisdiction may declare void a marriage when the male was under 16, or the female under 14 years of age at the time of the marriage, and the marriage was without the consent of the father, mother, guardian, or other person having the proper charge of his or her person, and has not been ratified by cohabitation after that age.

As a civil contract marriage may be celebrated either civilly or religiously.

IMPEDIMENTS.--Same as in Kansas, with the addition that marriages between whites and negroes or mulattoes are prohibited.

CAUSES FOR DIVORCE:

1. Abandonment for one year.

2. Adulterous cohabitation.

3. Condemnation for felony.