History of Divorce in America

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Voltaire, a philosopher from France, has stated that since the practice of formalized marriage began, the concept of divorce bloomed. In the Western World, the disagreements between married couples led to the need for a system of divorce.

History of Divorce in America after 1970

During the 1970s, the United States introduced no fault divorces. While doing this, the US followed a method that was in existence in the United Kingdom. In the UK, if a marriage was obviously irreparably damaged, the judge could grant a divorce decree. California was the first state to acknowledge the success of this system. This state became the first state in the US to adopt no fault laws. Later, the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act became prevalent throughout the nation.

Some people in America developed an opinion that no fault laws would be harmful to the institution of marriage. This sort of simple divorce would break all important bonds. The parties involved would face major financial, employment and family disruptions. As the grounds were open ended and simple, the lawyers and judges would find it very easy to grant a divorce.

During the 1980s, the divorce rate in the US reached its peak. 50 percent of the marriages terminated in divorce. The reasons cited for this upheaval are as follows.

• Increase in the earning potential of women
• The concept of divorce found more acceptance
• An enhancement in the pursuit of joy i.e. the possibility to locate a better partner
• The presence of no fault laws

Traditionally, an ex husband would be obliged to disburse spousal support and child support to the ex wife for a finite duration of time. However, in several states, if the woman is the major breadwinner, a reversal of the above situation is now possible.

History of Divorce in America from 1950 to 1970

It was realized during the mid 1950s that in many cases there were no fault reasons to terminate the marriage. Some of the reasons were as under.

• Loss of sanity
• Instances of incompatibility
• Long term separation

Practically, the above reasons were not adequate to grant a divorce. The spouses seeking divorce and their attorneys observed fabrication of the case, so that it appealed to the established grounds in each state. It was observed that during this period a majority of individuals married more than once during their life. In order to accelerate the divorce proceedings easily, judges as well as lawyers adhered to the fault based divorce system.

Divorce in the 17^th century United States

After the advent of the colonists in the States, in course of time, the 13 colonies were adjusted to form 50 states. During this era, the fault based divorce procedure was in existence. Each state listed the grounds of divorce so that the injured or innocent spouse would get an actual divorce and thereby experience relief. Some of the reasons were as follows.

• The classic abusive and cruel treatment
• Impotence
• Inebriation
• Adultery
• Desertion

The state regarded that it was in its interest that the marriage should survive. Let us assume that both spouses desired a divorce. Still it was necessary that the petitioner or plaintiff should present solid reasons in the court to facilitate the divorce.

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