Divorce

Divorce

Have you ever had to go through the pain of a divorce? My parents divorced

when I was 5 and it was really hard for me. According to the Encarta

Encyclopedia, Divorce, or dissolution, as it is increasingly becoming known, a

legislatively created, judicially administered process that legally terminates a

marriage no longer considered viable by one or both of the spouses and that

permits both to remarry. Until the divorce reform movement of the 1970s began

to have an impact, the legal doctrines governing divorce could be understood

only by reviewing the long history of English divorce law, which was dominated

by concepts of canon law.

The first main point is the History of divorce. Before 1857 in Great

Britain, freedom to remarry could be obtained only by an act of Parliament

following a separation decree given by a clerical court on the basis of some

wrong (such as adultery or abandonment) done by the defendant to the

plaintiff. This system, based on the premise that valid marriages may not be

dissolved, reflected the Roman Catholic origins of English domestic-relations

law. The early American colonists brought this fault-based

system with them to the New World. Because they feared the moral dangers

posed by a married yet separated state, they made it possible to obtain an

absolute divorce, but only on the traditional English grounds for separation.

Basically, however, the conceptual and legal structure the marriage-dissolution

system remained as it had been created and maintained for a divorceless

society. Clerical courts were abolished in Great Britain in 1857, and absolute

divorce was then instituted. Incorporated into the law of absolute divorce were

the fault-based notions th...

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...paradoxically, a greater belief in the emotional

value of marriage, which more readily disposes disappointed spouses to

divorce so as to seek a happier subsequent marriage. In a divorce action, one

spouse, usually the wife, may be granted alimony or maintenance payments

generally for a limited period of time. The custody of any children may be

awarded to either spouse, with equitable regulations made for visiting rights

and support of the children. At present, joint-custody arrangements are being

worked out more and more frequently by divorcing parents.

I have just told you about divorce history, divorce in the U.S., and

divorce reform. It is very hard for kids to go through divorce. I know I have

been there. So, when you think about getting married make sure it is the love

of your life so you don't have to go through something terrible like divorce.