Divorce

Divorce includes the set of proceedings that formally end a legal marriage. The right to divorce is not a constitutional right for all married couples; however, state governments permit it because it is a useful public policy. There are two main types of divorce in the United States: absolute divorce (“divorce a vincula matrimoni”) and limited divorce (“divorce a menso et thoro”). Absolute divorce requires that one spouse has engaged in some form of misconduct, commonly infidelity or adultery. An absolute divorce completely dissolves a marriage, whereas a limited divorce is more of a legal separation decree that does not change the marital status of the individuals concerned but prohibits cohabitation. In some states, it is possible to attain an absolute divorce after having a limited divorce for a prescribed period of time, for instance one year.

Legal Background

In many states, it is no longer necessary to show that one party is at fault to obtain a divorce. This is referred to as a “no-fault divorce statute” and it may refer to one of four situations: the relationship has become impractical, irreconcilable differences have cause the marriage to break down without the possibility of repair, personal conflict between the parties have negated any chance of reconciliation or simply that the marriage is broken beyond repair. Once a marriage has been dissolved, typically the property is divided between both parties. Although the process for separating property varies from state to state, it most often involves a distinction between separate property and marital property. The former includes items or belongings that were acquired by one spouse prior to the marriage that did not increase in value as a result of the efforts of one or both of the spouses for the duration of the marriage. Marital property refers to items acquired by both spouses, either together or separately, over the course of the marriage.

Affected Groups

In 2011, the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) reported a total of 877,000 divorces across the country, which translates to a rate of 3.6 divorces per one thousand persons. Divorce may have various impacts. It may have an emotional impact on the spouses and their children, if any. It may also have a large financial impact on one or both of the spouses. For instance, if one spouse traditionally maintained the household and did not work or worked less than the “breadwinner” spouse, he or she may face the need to work more following a divorce. Usually, alimony payments ensure that one party is not in a dire financial situation following the legal end of the marriage. Many ex-spouses must also pay child support to ensure that their children may enjoy the same standard of living as they did before the marriage ended.

Challenges

Some couples look to jurisdictions other than the one they reside or resided in during the marriage when seeking a divorce. They may do this for several reasons. Firstly, some states still do not offer no-fault proceedings and a request for a divorce may be rejected if it cannot be shown that one of the parties behaved wrongly. Secondly, wait times in some states can be extremely long, involving a lot of paperwork. Some couples prefer to act quickly as opposed to dragging out proceedings for years. In some cases, couples that want to divorce will go as far as Mexico or the Dominican Republic to get divorced quickly.