93-5-7 - Conduct of divorce proceedings.
§ 93-5-7. Conduct of divorce proceedings.
The proceedings to obtain a divorce shall be by complaint in chancery, and shall be conducted as other suits in chancery, except that (1) the defendant shall not be required to answer on oath; (2) no judgment by default may be granted but a divorce may be granted on the ground of irreconcilable differences in termtime or vacation; (3) admissions made in the answer shall not be taken as evidence; (4) the clerk shall not set down on the issue docket any divorce case unless upon the request of one (1) of the parties; (5) the plaintiff may allege only the statutory language as cause for divorce in a separate paragraph in the complaint; provided, however, the defendant shall be entitled to discover any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the issues raised by the claims or defenses of the other; (6) the court shall have full power in its discretion to grant continuances in such cases without the compliance by the parties with any of the requirements of law respecting continuances in other cases; and (7) in all cases, except complaints seeking a divorce on the ground of irreconcilable differences, the complaint must be accompanied with an affidavit of plaintiff that it is not filed by collusion with the defendant for the purpose of obtaining a divorce, but that the cause or causes for divorce stated in the complaint are true as stated.
Sources: Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 34, art. 2 (2); 1857, ch. 40, art. 18; 1871, § 1773; 1880, § 1161; 1892, § 1568; 1906, § 1676; Hemingway's 1917, § 1418; 1930, § 1416; 1942, § 2737; Laws, 1922, ch. 233; Laws, 1924, ch. 151; Laws, 1958, ch. 272, § 2; Laws, 1974, ch. 556; Laws, 1976, ch. 451, § 3; Laws, 1991, ch. 573, § 129, eff from and after July 1, 1991.