Divorce Lawyers

Divorce Laws

Unsure What Your Rights Are? Explore our resources below for additional information on Divorce Laws in you area.

Divorce Laws

Divorce Laws vary from country to country and state to state in the US, but most follow a few basic principles. Divorce laws have been designed to provide a framework for the court to hear and compare claims for the separation of wealth, legal concerns and children during divorce proceedings and also to establish sufficient reason for divorce in the first place.

We will now take a look at the key reasons that a court may consider a divorce case:

 

  • Adultery; divorce laws sate that adultery may only be used as a reason within six months of it being revealed. It must also have involved sexual relations outside of the marriage.
  • Separation; divorce laws state that separation or ‘desertion' is applicable if one party has been absent for more than two years.
  • Unreasonable Behaviour; divorce laws recognize unreasonable behaviour as anything which the other party understandably considers to be unreasonable. This must be claimed within six months of the apparent behaviour.
  • Consent; divorce laws allow for divorce by mutual consent. Both parties must agree to divorce. The couple must live apart for two years.
  • Without consent; divorce laws in the UK provide one other ‘get out clause' in this form. If partners have lived apart for five years the court will consider ‘without consent' cases --though they are frequently turned down.

In the event divorce laws allow for a separation, the process of divorce is started. There are many misconceptions about the process of divorce; celebrity divorce cases, which include millions of dollars, personal possessions and easily damaged public images, are the extreme that most divorce cases will ever reach.

In reality, divorce is a relatively mundane and predictable process. Divorce laws have evolved to expedite the process for co-operative couples, who may incur relatively small costs, particularly if the process is amicable. If at all possible it is usually best to use a divorce mediation process to establish how and why proceeds from the marriage are divided. If this is not managed by the couple, the judge will do it for them.

We provide further guides on divorce mediation and choosing a divorce lawyer, which help you go beyond the information available in this article.