Condonation can happen after you file, and in a fault case a reconciliation given on a promise does not end the lawsuit you already have.
The Rule
The Georgia Supreme Court put it this way in Brewer v. Brewer, 205 Ga. 759 (1949): “Condonation and cohabitation after filing a suit for divorce, if conditioned upon the promise of the defendant not to again be guilty of the acts charged in the petition, will not prevent the plaintiff from proceeding with the original petition for divorce in the event of a breach of the condition and agreement on the part of the defendant.”
So the timing does not change the analysis. What matters is whether the reconciliation carried a condition, and whether your spouse broke it.
An Example
Kristensen v. Kristensen, 240 Ga. 670 (1978), applied that rule. A wife filed for divorce in September 1975 alleging cruel treatment, and a temporary order was entered. The parties reconciled that December and lived together as husband and wife until the following April, when they separated again.
Rather than filing a new case, she amended her original petition, alleging that the reconciliation had been conditional and that her husband had committed further acts of cruel treatment afterward. The Georgia Supreme Court held the trial court was right to allow the amendment.
What This Means
You go back to the case you already have, not to the beginning. Note the practical consequence, though: your amendment has to allege both that the reconciliation was conditional and that your spouse broke the condition.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!