Divorce





Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the ending of a marriage, which can be
contrasted with an annulment which is a declaration that a marriage is void,
though the effects of marriage may be recognized in such unions, such as
spousal support, child custody and distribution of property.

In developed countries, divorce rates have increased markedly during the
twentieth century. Among the states in which divorce has become commonplace
are the United States, Japan, Korea and members of the European Union. In
U.S, Canada, the United Kingdom and other some other developed Commonwealth
countries, this boom in divorce developed in the last half of the twentieth
century, corresponding, more or less, with the abolition of such concepts as
illegitimacy and the development of the equality of the sexes. In addition,
acceptance of the single-parent family has resulted in many women deciding
to have children outside marriage as there is little remaining social stigma
attached to unwed mothers. The subject of divorce as a social phenomenon is
an important research topic in sociology.

Some researchers argue that divorce rate does not always reflect actual
interactions among people; that is, some countries may show a low divorce
rate because, in such countries, people rarely get married in the first
place. This heavily depends on cultural values and how the tax system
affects married couples.

Women are generally the financial victims of divorce due to the lack of
equal pay for equal work in many countries and the fact that many women give
up employment after marriage to bring up children. They are often left with
the burden of looking after the children after the divorce while having to
find work in low-paid jobs. Child support collection is a major problem as
many fathers do not accept that they have an obligation towards their
children. Many national and local governments provide some kind of welfare
system for divorced mothers and their children. See single mother for detail.

The term between divorce and remarriage varies depending on the country and
the gender of the divorcee. In some countries, women need to wait longer
than men before remarrying to avoid confusion about paternity. Children born
after divorce may or may not be recognized as children of their father
depending on the period between divorce and birth. In most common law
jurisdictions there is a presumption that the child born during the marriage
is the father's child, however this presumption can be overcome by
identifying the putative father and bringing a paternity or affiliation
proceeding. If the child was conceived before the divorce but born afterward
this is the kind of grey area that jurists enjoy litigating. If a man
accepts the child as his own he may be declared the father by estoppel as
the parens patrie power of the court would rather the child have a male role
model responsible for child support and other parental obligations rather
than have the child grow up in a monoparental family.

History of Divorce

Divorce in some jurisdictions is a relatively recent phenomenon. In Canada
there was no divorce law until the 1960s. Before that the only way to get
divorced was to apply to the Canadian Senate where a special committee would
undertake an investigation of a request for a divorce and if they found that
the request had merit, the marriage would be dissolved by an Act of
Parliament.

Many countries in Europe, such as France prohibited divorce as it was not
condoned by the Catholic church. Sometimes citizens would travel to other
jurisdictions to obtain a divorce.

Legal Aspects of Divorce

United States

Under the laws of most of the states of the United States except New York a
divorce is now called dissolution of marriage. This change of name was
accompanied by a change from fault-based divorce, whereby one party was
found guilty of one of the grounds for divorce such as adultery,
abandonment, or cruel and inhuman treatment. Now, under no-fault divorce, it
is simply necessary to plead that the marriage is "irretrievably broken" or
that there are "irreconcilable differences."

Canada

In Canada while civil and political rights are in the jurisdiction of the
provinces of Canada, the Constitution of Canada specifically made marriage
and divorce the realm of the federal government. Essentially this means that
Canada's divorce law is uniform throughout Canada, even in Quebec, that
differs from the other provinces in its use of the civil law as codified in
the Civil Code of Quebec as opposed to the common law that is in force in
the other provinces and generally interpreted in similar ways throughout the
Anglo-Canadian provinces.

Japan

In Japan, under the national laws, divorce is a simple process of submitting
a declaration to the relevant government office that says both spouses agree
to divorce.

You can also carry out an "online divorce". The first online divorce
occurred in 1999.