West Virginia Code
Article 5. Divorce
§48-5-403. Answer to Petition

(a) The responsive pleading to a petition for divorce is denominated an answer. The form and requisites for an answer to a petition for divorce are governed by the rules of civil procedure.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, an allegedly guilty party who relies upon an affirmative defense must assert such defense by both pleadings and proof. Affirmative defenses include, but are not limited to, condonation, connivance, collusion, recrimination, insanity and lapse of time.
(c) In an action in which a party seeks a divorce based on an allegation that the parties have lived separate and apart in separate places of abode without any cohabitation and without interruption for one year, the affirmative defenses, including, but not limited to, condonation, connivance, collusion, recrimination, insanity and lapse of time, shall not be raised.

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