Georgia has never answered this one, and the two decisions that touch it point in opposite directions.
The Statute Treats Both as One Ground
OCGA 19-5-3(10) makes a ground for divorce “[c]ruel treatment, which shall consist of the willful infliction of pain, bodily or mental, upon the complaining party, such as reasonably justifies apprehension of danger to life, limb, or health.”
Bodily pain and mental pain sit in the same clause, under one ground. Since OCGA 19-5-4(a)(3) bars a divorce where “[b]oth parties are guilty of like conduct,” that wording suggests a beating and a campaign of humiliation are the same ground and so are like conduct.
An Old Case Said Otherwise
Gholston v. Gholston, 31 Ga. 625 (1860), drew the opposite line. As the Georgia Supreme Court later described it, the court in Gholston “approved jury instructions which stated that the cruel treatment of wife beating was ‘unlike’ the cruel treatment of a wife’s abusive and insulting language to her husband.”
The Court Declined to Adopt That Distinction
In Teague v. Teague, 198 Ga. 239 (1944), the Georgia Supreme Court cited Gholston for a different point and then went out of its way to add a caveat: “It is not to be inferred from this ruling and citation of the Gholston case, that this Court now approves the distinction made in that case that corporal punishment and acts amounting to mental cruelty do not constitute like conduct.”
That reserved the question rather than deciding it. Thirty-one years later, in Blois v. Blois, 234 Ga. 475 (1975), the Court cited Gholston again with approval.
What to Take From It
Do not assume the answer either way. If your case turns on it, expect the point to be argued from scratch.
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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!