Everything About Divorce

Divorce is the ultimate termination or dissolution of a marriage. It is also same with abolishing the legal duties and responsibilities of both parties.

Divorce laws differ completely in other countries around the world. Nonetheless, in most countries, it needs the validation of a court or an authority under a legal proceeding. The legal process for divorce may comprise various issues like spousal support, child custody and support, distribution of assets and division of debt.

From 1971 to 1996, four countries in Europe namely Spain, Italy, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland have approved the legalization of divorce. This October 1, 2011, Malta will start to legalize divorce leaving only two countries in the world, the Philippines and the Vatican City, to have not legalized divorce, yet.

Even though divorce laws differ among countries, there are basically two approaches to divorce; the fault based and the no-fault based. However, the court may still take into consideration the intentions of the parties when settling terms on properties, debts, evaluating child custody, and support.

Under a no-fault divorce system, divorce doesn't need an attribution or proof of fault of either spouse. Only the mere admission that the marriage has failed is necessary to satisfy the judicial officer. In other jurisdictions requiring irreconcilable differences, the mere accusation that the marriage has been ruined by these differences is already enough for the judicial officer to grant a divorce.

Before the late 1960s, almost all countries which legalized divorce need proof of fault that the other spouse had engaged in an action not compatible to the marriage. This is called as the grounds for divorce or more commonly known fault and was the sole way to end a marriage. Still a lot of jurisdictions around the world require such proof of fault or grounds.

In the US, a no-fault divorce is now available in all 50 states making the job of a divorce attorney Walnut Creek much easier. The District of Columbia, New York, was the last state to require fault-based divorce until a bill in 2010 was made allowing a no-fault divorce.

Fault-based divorces, on the other hand, can be contested. Evaluation of offenses may include allegations of collusion of both parties (work together to get the divorce faster). Others are condone or approving the offense. While some are working with each other or by tricking someone into committing an offense. However, there are some who use provocation by the other party.

Contested fault divorces can be very costly and usually not practical as eventually most divorces are granted. Comparative rectitude, on the other hand, is a doctrine used to identify which spouse is more at fault when both parties are guilty of breaches.