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2172 LAWS OF MARYLAND [Ch. 354
BY repealing and re—enacting, with amendments,
Article 16 — Chancery
Section 24
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1973 Replacement Volume and 1974 Supplement)
SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
MARYLAND, That Section 24 of Article 16 — Chancery, of
the Annotated Code of Maryland (1973 Replacement Volume
and 1974 Supplement) be and it is hereby repealed and
re—enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:
Article 16 — Chancery
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 complained against has abandoned the party
complaining, and that such abandonment has continued
uninterruptedly for at least twelve 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
twelve 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, or the United
States and has been sentenced to serve at least three
years or an indeterminate sentence in any penitentiary or
penal institution [eighteen] 12 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 interruption
for three 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.
SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act
shall take effect July 1, 1975.
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