Divorce Law And Its Effect On The United States

Most people don’t ever think that they will get a divorce but the reality is that almost half of marriages will end in divorce. Divorce is not a decision that is made or taken lightly; its effects on families are damaging and not to mention long lasting. The Oxford Dictionary (2017), describes divorce as “a legal decree dissolving a marriage by a court or other competent body”. When a couple decides to separate numerous aspects of their lives are affected. Divorce affects family dynamics, physically and emotionally health, education, finances, job stability, income potential, drug use and crime. Divorce does not simply affect the lives of families; it affects America as a whole religiously, economically, and it immensely impacts the lives of the children involved.

There has been a long history regarding reform proposals and recommendations surrounding the law of divorce. The first legislation which was introduced in divorce law was the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, which allowed people to obtain a divorce. However, today the provisions within that act are outdated, yet, it represented society in 1857. In 1937, legislation altered to catch up with societal changes and additional grounds of divorce were introduced. This again occurred in 1973, where legislation changed altering the grounds and facts in which a divorce could be obtained. This is the current legislation relied upon today.

in divorce. There is a lot of stress on all the people involved. The man has

People most often simply lived apart or separated from one another. The Matrimonial Causes Act of 1923 equalized the grounds for divorce by allowing woman to sue an adulterous husband for divorce.

Once Societies rules on divorce changed divorce rates began to climb. A No-fault divorce rule came into effect in the 1950’s. This meant unlike before, they no longer needed to prove who was at fault in the marriage. By 1970, almost all states had laws allowing these no fault divorces. There is no doubt that this was a factor

California divorce laws state that in order to get divorced, one of the spouses has to have lived in the state for six months. Not only that, he or she also needs to reside in the county where the petition is filed for three months.

With regards to the issue of divorce, Hyde vs Hyde originally defined marriage as a union ‘for life’, hindering the ability to seek divorce. Eventually the 1959 Matrimonial Causes Act (Cth) created 14 grounds for divorce. Despite this improvement on the previous law, these grounds where still not very accessible. This was reduced to just the one ground – “irretrievable breakdown of a marriage,” in the 1975 FLA. This change was a response to the needs of a changing society, bringing in ‘no fault’ within a divorce. This shows the law is very effective with dealing relationship breakdowns and the ability to reform to align with

Throughout history, the views on a couple getting a divorce has changed dramatically. In the earlier years, getting a divorce was considered to be a taboo and looked down upon. The article, “The Divorce Colony” written by April White, shares the story of Margaret Laura De Stuers, who in the 1800’s had to travel to another state to get a divorce from her husband. During that time, only men of power and wealth were allowed to be granted a divorce and women didn’t have much say. Maggie had some valid reasons to why she wanted a divorce such as her husband was cruel, abusive and committed adultery during their marriage.

A new drive is on the limit to do away with the current divorce laws in many states which allow for "no fault" divorce. This new offered law introduced in several states during the past few months is designed to make divorce harder by forcing divorcing parents, with petty children, to sue and prove fault before a divorce can be granted. Some legislators, alert of public relations, disguise this attempt by calling it "divorce reform". In reality what this is attempting to do is force people to stay married. Their reason is based on the belief that divorce causes problems in children and therefore if adults are not allowed to divorce or, if divorce is made very difficult to accomplish, people will stay married and children will be the receivers

California was the first to adopt the law in 1969 and later on, other states (Iowa being the second) did too (The History of Divorce Law in the USA, 2014). Over the years, divorce has increased as the stigma against it has started to decrease since the 1800s. Divorce rates went from less than 3% to about 7% from the late 1800s to the late 1960s. Before 1867, divorce statistics were not recorded. While there was a large amount of dishonor attached to divorce in the 1800s, divorce still happened every once in a while. One of the influences on divorce statistics at the time was that women outside of marriage didn’t have the same economic opportunities that men had. While divorce rates still weren’t that high compared to later on, divorce began to slowly increase. Divorce rates during the 1900s were still low because you couldn’t acquire a divorce without proving abuse, adultery, or abandonment. Divorce continued to rise at a steady pace, significantly increasing in the 1970s. This was because no-fault divorce had just been made available and people could now file without the hassle of having to prove something had caused the marriage to fall

After long and bitter parliamentary debates, the federal Divorce Act was revised. Additional grounds for divorce included desertion, imprisonment, or separation for at least three years plus marital offences of physical and mental cruelty. The new law eliminated the need to appear in court in most cases – often the most personally humiliating experience in the older legal procedure. The law later changed again in 1985, where it eased off yet again, to allow divorces after only a year’s separation. The broad trend in Canada was to make divorce easier. It was accomplished by making it less fault-oriented where most divorce applications to the courts are no longer contested which eliminates the need for a formal court hearing where both parties testify and ask for different things. With “no fault” splits in place, the social stigma of divorce shrank. As more people divorced the stigma weakened further. The cycle continued while the divorce rate soared. In 1951, there had been only one divorce for every 24 marriages, by 1987, one couple divorced every two couples that married (McGovern). In 1993, there were 78 000 divorces across Canada, compared to about 11 000 in 1968 before the new divorce laws came into

‘it is incongruous that to get divorced in a matter of weeks from separation one party must blame the other for the marriage breakdown, yet if they are happy not to apportion blame, they have to wait two years before a petition can be issued’

That divorce reform act is the present day law for divorce. The evolution of divorce has drastically changed over time, making divorce easier on families. In addition, divorce does not ruin lives, it can actually benefit the adults and children involved.

Divorce law operates on several different levels, and prior to 1857 the ecclesiastical courts determined the law on divorce. However, the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 currently governs this area. Theoretically, irretrievable breakdown of marriage is the only justification for divorce which must be accompanied in conjunction with one of the five facts. This was acknowledged in Buffery v Buffery, which recognised there must be a clear link between the fact and the irretrievable breakdown. Consequently, if the fact is not accompanied by irretrievable breakdown it will be unsuccessful, as recognised in Biggs v Biggs.

Divorce is defined as the legal dissolution of a marriage according to the Oxford English Dictionary. If one wishes to begin a petition for divorce, they must be married for at least a year. Prior to the 1970’s the prevalence of divorce was relatively uncommon. There were specific requirements in which a couple had to meet before being eligible to terminate a marriage. However, towards the end of the 70’s no-fault divorces became a popular option allowing couples to file for whatever reason he or she wanted. In 1969–1970, California became the first state to institute so-called no-fault divorce (Wilcox, 2009). These specific laws had a great effect on the rate of divorce, beginning in the 1970’s. Divorce rose from 8% in the 1900’s to a staggering 33% in 1970’s and continued to rise (“Historical Divorce Rate Statistics”, n.d). Alongside the evolution of divorce came the wave of feminism, which is based on the advocacy of women’s rights. Feminism was quite popular. The new consciousness of feminism allowed wives to fell more at peace leaving their marriages that they found to be unsatisfying.