If you decide to divorce, you can apply for a decision which will blame your spouse (or both) on the breakdown of your marriage. In a situation where one of the spouses suffers from a mental illness, attributing blame requires an extremely detailed analysis of all aspects of the case. It depends on the circumstances whether the mental illness of one of the spouses will be considered a culpable cause of the breakdown of the marriage, or whether the fault for this reason cannot be attributed.
In the judgment of 5 January 2001, V CKN 915/00, the Supreme Court stated that in certain circumstances the spouse’s mental illness does not preclude the attribution of complicity to the permanent and complete breakdown of the marriage.
In the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court it is emphasized that blaming the spouse in the breakdown of marriage requires establishing that he violated (intentionally or unintentionally) the obligations arising from the act or the principles of social coexistence.
The court recalled that upon entering into a marriage, the spouses undertake to provide mutual assistance and care for a jointly founded family, therefore the spouse’s illness means that the other spouse must use all means to restore the sick person’s health and cannot, as such, be the sole reason for attributing blame .
However, there are situations in which it will be possible to attribute the blame to the breakdown of a marriage to a mentally ill spouse. The Supreme Court emphasized that it would depend on the type of disease present. For if, in the periods of remission, the patient refuses treatment or hinders it, and his attitude is one of the reasons for the breakdown of the marital relationship, there are no obstacles to assign such a spouse the joint fault (or even the sole fault) of the breakdown of the marriage.
It should be emphasized that, in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code, fault cannot be attributed to a person who, for any reason, is in a state that excludes the conscious or free decision and expression of will. In the event of adjudication of guilt, the mental state of the spouse who has been charged with the breakdown of the marriage should be taken into account. It will not be possible to attribute the spouse to the fault of the breakdown of the marriage if his actions took place in a state of insanity or temporary disturbance of mental activities.
Incidentally, it should be mentioned that the attribution of the spouse’s fault to the breakdown of the marriage is deprived of decisive importance for the issue of his or her parental authority, its exercise or personal contacts with a minor child. The assessment of the child’s situation is of decisive importance when deciding on parental responsibility and personal contacts between the parent and the child.