In Maryland, there are 8 grounds for divorce: adultery; desertion for 12 continuous months; voluntary separation for 12 continuous months; two-year separation; conviction of a felony or misdemeanor with incarceration for at least 1 year under a sentence of 3 or more years; insanity, with the spouse institutionalized for at least 3 years and the insanity is incurable; cruelty of treatment; or excessively vicious conduct.

To be "separated", spouses must live in separate residences. The separation is interrupted if spouses have sexual relations with one another, resume living together, or even spend one night together under the same roof, regardless of whether or not they sleep in separate bedrooms.