Unilateral Divorce Laws

Unilateral Divorce Laws is another term for No-fault Divorce Laws. As per these laws, if a partner desires for divorce there is no need to point out any fault of the other spouse to obtain a divorce. In 2004, Gruber reached the following conclusion.

Since the implementation of these laws, the following alterations have taken place.

• The divorce rate has increased
• Children are marrying at an earlier age
• Children are having less stable marriages
• The suicide rate in children has increased

In 2000, Johnson and Mazingo also concluded the above results. In 2006, Wolfers and Stevenson discovered that in those states in the United States where these laws were introduced, there was a decrease in the following.

• Intimate murders of wives
• Domestic violence
• Female suicide rates

All the above studies suggest that no-fault divorce laws are a boon for wives but a curse for children.

There is no-doubt regarding the fact that the introduction of these laws raised the divorce rate. Although, different estimates have been made, there is a general agreement that the raise was in a 10 percent range.

History of Unilateral Divorce Laws

In the past, divorces took place for various faults out of which abandonment, cruelty and adultery were common. The 1968 Divorce Act of Canada was the first occasion when “unilateral separation” was appended to the traditional roster of faults.

In 1969, the California Divorce Laws substituted fault provisions with “irreconcilable differences” and this was a new ground at that time. During the next 12 years, almost each U.S. state and Western country pursued what California has initiated. The various no-fault divorce laws of these states have one element in common. Any married spouse is entitled to unilaterally divorce his or her partner.

Reasons why Unilateral Divorce Laws affect divorce rates

Some people are of the opinion that due to the introduction of no-fault divorce laws, it has become less expensive to begin a divorce procedure. Some divorce researchers take into account some other aspects of family law that may or may not have altered when the no-fault divorce laws were included. As an example, some jurisdictions cancelled grounds of divorce to be a condition for child support, spousal support, child custody and property settlement. Due to these changes, it was concluded that bad demeanor did not essentially result in an inferior divorce settlement. So, people thought it is easy to display worse demeanor and more divorces.

When only the fault system was in existence, the divorcing partners would accede to a fault and observe false swearing in the court. In order for this step to be successful, it was essential that the divorcing partners would have to accept the complete divorce settlement. However, in a unilateral process, there was no need to have the consent of the other divorcing partner to any fault. The implementation of these rules implied that one partner may terminate a marriage as it makes him or her better off, although this meant that the other partner would be worse off.

Divorce Papers