Marvin Mandel, Governor                        1649

CHAPTER 572
(Senate Bill 808)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 24 of
Article 16 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1969 Supplement),
title "Chancery," subtitle "Divorce and Annulment," to provide
as the basis for a final divorce the sentencing of an individual
to an indeterminate term after eighteen months of this sentence
has been served.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That Section 24 of Article 16 of the Annotated Code of Maryland
(1969 Supplement), title "Chancery," subtitle "Divorce and Annul-
ment," be and it is hereby repealed and re-enacted, with amend-
ments, to read as follows:

24.

Upon a hearing of any bill for a divorce, the court may decree a
divorce a vinculo matrimonii for the following causes, to wit: First,
the impotence of either party at the time of the marriage; secondly,
for any cause which by the laws of this State, render a marriage
null and void ab initio; thirdly, for adultery; fourthly, when the
court shall be satisfied by competent testimony that the party com-
plained against has abandoned the party complaining, and that such
abandonment has continued uninterruptedly for at least eighteen
months, and is deliberate and final, and the separation of the parties
beyond any reasonable expectation of reconciliation; fifthly, when
the husband and wife shall have voluntarily lived separate and apart,
without any cohabitation, for eighteen consecutive months prior to
the filing of the bill of complaint, and such separation is beyond
any reasonable expectation of reconciliation; sixthly, when the party
complained against has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor
under the laws of this State or of any other state in the United
States and has been sentenced to serve at least three years or AN
indeterminate sentence in any penitentiary or penal institution
eighteen months of which sentence has been served; seventhly, on
the application of either party when the husband and wife have
lived separate and apart without any cohabitation and without inter-
ruption for five years. A plea of res adjudicata or of recrimination
with respect to any other provisions of this section shall not be a bar
to either party obtaining a divorce on this seventh ground. When
a divorce is granted on this seventh ground, the court, in the ab-
sence of a bona fide property division agreement between the parties,
which it may exercise on the application of either party, may divide
and distribute between the parties, all their property, real, personal
or mixed, over which the court has jurisdiction. The amount and
proportion of the property to be divided and distributed shall be
in the sound discretion of the court as just and equitable consider-
ing all the circumstances of the case.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
July 1, 1970.

Approved May 5, 1970