Vanilla Ice, legendary musician turned reality TV star, has separated from
his wife of 14 years Laura Giaritta. Despite amazing rhymes which no doubt
filled their household; their marriage has not been without its problems.
In 2001 Vanilla plead guilty to assaulting his wife, and was charged again
in 2008, though the charges were later dropped. We would never care to
speculate on what is going on inside the house that Ice built;this does
present itself as an opportunity to discuss one of the rarely used grounds
of divorce. If there is in fact abuse going on and Laura sought to divorce
Vanilla in Ontario, would that qualify as a ground for divorce?
In order to be granted a divorce the Divorce Act requires there be a breakdown
of the marriage; demonstrated by one of three things:
Breakdown of marriage
(2) Breakdown of a marriage is established only if
(a) the spouses have lived separate and apart for at least one year immediately
preceding the determination of the divorce proceeding and were living
separate and apart at the commencement of the proceeding; or
(b) the spouse against whom the divorce proceeding is brought has, since
celebration of the marriage,
(i) committed adultery, or
(ii) treated the other spouse with physical or mental cruelty of such
a kind as to render intolerable the continued cohabitation of the spouses.
Claiming physical or mental cruelty for the reason for the breakdown of
the marriage has several consequences. First unlike the most common ground
for divorce, having lived separate and apart for one year, a divorce due
to cruelty is granted immediately. There is no need to wait one year.
Secondly, cruelty is not just something the court will grant automatically.
The person claiming it must prove to the court that there was mental or
physical cruelty and it was so bad that it made living with the spouse
intolerable. This is not something the court takes lightly.
We wish Ice and Laura all the best in this difficult time and hope this
can serve as a lesson to others as well. Even if you’re married to
Vanilla; marriage can still be a Rocky Road.