Family Law – Summative Assessment CURRENT LAW Currently the divorce law in England and Wales operates a fault-based system whereby the court grants a divorce if a person can prove that their marriage has broken down. The break down in the marriage can only be due to one of the following five reasons – adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion after two years, two years' separation with consent or five years' separation without consent. These requirements were established in the case of Buffery v Buffery [1988] 2 FLR 365. The procedure requires the petitioner to file a divorce petition to the court listing one or more of these reasons for divorce. Upon agreement of the petition grounds or the courts satisfaction that a divorce should be granted, a decree nisi will be drafted. Six weeks following this, the decree absolute is then issued, legally dissolving the marriage. A no fault divorce is when neither party is at fault; it is “a quick legal separation without blame” as stated by Sir Nicholas Wall, president of the high court's family division (1). The notion of No-fault divorce was incorporated in Part 2 of The Family Law Act 1996; however, the act never came into power and was later repealed. England and Wales operate a fault based divorce system under which the only ground with a no fault element is the ground of two years separation with consent. However, the cuts to legal aid along with the budget reductions for the court service may result in amplified number of people attempting to acquire divorce without legal representation. This may cause the government to re-evaluate the current divorce system in order to reduce the pressure on courts. A key problem with the current divorce law is that if a couple has simply fallen o... ... middle of paper ... ...pted. It is of the popular view that a no-fault divorce option should be made available in England and Wales. However, it should be subject to certain criteria for example a mutual agreement between both parties to end the marriage after sessions of counselling or the reference of a medical member (doctor/psychiatrist) for people in an abusive relationship. Bibliography Primary Sources Family Law (Law Express) 2th edition, by Jonathon Herring, published by Pearson Education Limited 2009 Family Law Key Cases, by Helen L. Conway, edited by Jacqueline Martin & Chris Turner, Published by Routledge 2013 Secondary Sources 1. http://www.theguardian.com/law/2012/mar/27/no-fault-divorces-standard-judge 2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17522726 3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/5288274.stm 4. http://divorcesupport.about.com/od/maritalproblems/i/nofault_fault_2.htm
Introduction A century ago, divorce was nearly non-existent due to the cultural and religious pressures placed upon married couples. Though over time Canadians have generally become more tolerant of what was once considered ‘mortal sin’, marital separation and divorce still remain very taboo topics in society. Political leaders are frowned upon when their marriages’ crumble, religions isolate and shun those who break their martial vows, and people continue to look down on those who proceed to legally separate their households. With that being said, couples do not just decide to get a divorce for no particular reason. There must be something driving them towards marital dissatisfaction and further, driving them towards divorce.
In the 21st century, divorce has become commonplace not only in the United States, but in many parts of the world. Franklin and Boddie (2004) reported that within 10 years about 40-50% of American marriages end in divorce. In 2009, the divorce rate in the United States stood at 3.6 per 1,000 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). Divorce, however, is not only a social issue, but it has serious health implications. Divorce has been researched extensively and is considered an adverse event (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). Adverse events such as personal or parental divorce has been linked to many ailments and conditions including substance abuse, depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, and premature mortality (Sbarra, Law, & Portley, 2011; CDC, 2009).
Divorce can be caused by problems such as drugs, adultery, abuse, and money. The United States is a fast-paced country with little to no time to spend on the basic family values it was founded upon. Jobs are more demanding, kids are spending most of their time with people other than their parents, and the economy drains marriages by causing worry and stress. The foundation upon which marriage was built has been shaken.
First, the Halackah requires a Get (bill of divorcement), which limits the possibility of a rash, thoughtless divorce (Biale p.6). Second, the Talmud introduces a number of grounds where a woman can seek a divorce. She must appeal to a Beit Din to compel him to divorce her (B. p.6). Furthermore, post-biblical Halackah introduces the Ketubah, which gives financial assurances to women in case of a divorce (B. p.6). Finally, in the Middle ages, the ban of Rabbenu Gershom forbids divorcing a woman against her consent (B. p.6).
Divorce should be harder to obtain due to the effect that it has on children the main effect it has on the children is depression. “ In the short term divorce is always troublesome for children Mavis Hetherington videotaped and scrutinized the workings of 1400 divorced families since the early 1970’s. Hetherington pinpoints a crisis period of about two years in the immediate aftermath of separation when the adults, preoccupied with their own lives, typically takes their eye off parenting just when their children are reeling from loss and feeling bewildered” (Hethrington 2). This article states that the short term effect of divorce affects the kid deep because they feel that they lost one forever and in those 1400 many of the kids felt the effect of the divorce. “Wallerstein has told us that divorce abruptly ends kids’ childhood, filling it with loneliness and worry about their parents, and hurting them prematurely and recklessly into adolescence. (Wallerstein 2).” This later affects the kids life because they try to think of happy memories they had but really all they can think about is the parent that they loss due to the divorce. “Contrary to the popular perceptions, the alternative to most divorces is not life in a war zone. Though more than 50 percent of all marriages currently end in divorce, experts tell us that only about 15 percent of all unions involve high levels of conflict. In the vast number of divorces, then, there is no gross strife or violence that could warp a youngster’s childhood. The majority of marital break-ups are driven by a quest for greener grass—and in these cases the children will almost always be worse off. (Zinsmeister 2)” this proves to me that when people get a divorce they most of the time don’t ...
Sociological Analysis of Divorce as a Social Problem and Proposed Solutions Every year approximately 2.4 million marriages occur. Out of those,2.1 millionwill file for divorce in the United States. These marriage and divorce rates have significantly increased since the years past(Coltrane and Adams, 364).According to Schoen, in the 1950’s, 15 out of 1,000 marriages ended in divorce. In the 1970’s, the rates of divorcedoubled,increasing to 40 per 1,000 marriages. Currently, the rate of marriages resulting in divorce remains the same.
Except for reasons based on life threatening situation, infidelity, and physical abuse; all other reasons for divorce should be critically scrutinized. For instance, why should the choice of food be a basis for divorce? This is not to say that some marriages will not end in divorce, but the obvious thing is that most couples seek divorce for the wrong reasons, thereby bringing untold hardship on their children in the end. In like manner, the populace needs to be informed on the statistics of divorce, the potential adverse effect it has on the children, and records of the misdemeanor that is associated with divorce. This is a good way to appeal to people’s emotion and also get them involved in the campaign against
As with most life transitions, divorce can be liberating, depressing, frustrating, or traumatic to any person who experiences it. Perhaps the most painful part on the process of divorce is when the children get involved and when they all get trapped in the situation. These children may suffer significant losses in their lives and unless the situation can be handled in a civil manner, they will become prone to the psychological torment that could affect them for the rest of their lives. The issue of divorce however is becoming more and more intense since for the past ten years the divorce rate in the United States has skyrocketed to a record high of almost fifty- percent. It is also believed that the divorce rate in the United States is the highest in the world and the reason for this are primarily the ever-changing role of the husbands and wives in their household, early marriage, infidelity, extra marital affairs, domestic violence, financial instability and psychological incapacity.
Divorce happens almost every day in America, there is one divorce approximately every 36 seconds, according to Irvin McKinley (2012). McKinley goes on to write that that is nearly 2,400 divorces per day, 16,800 divorces per week and 876,000 divorces a year. Sometimes, it’s the way of life we can’t control people’s marriage and make it a better relationship, but we certainly want to make it less tragic to the ones who will get affected. The main cause of divorce is very simple it is either the lack of romantic feelings or cheating on the husband or wife. Since divorce is an ongoing condition and has been increasing lately, people have begun to look at it as a pathetic thing and normal. Regardless of the causes, no one wins in divorce because it impacts negatively in many ways. Therefore, divorce mostly negatively affects the children, wife, and husband in a family.
There are five major steps when it comes to getting a divorce. There is “Filing a Petition” where the couple must meat “the separation requirements”. Following is notifying the other spouse by having them “served.” Next will be the “Temporary Hearing” where they “establish temporary child or spousal support.” This is followed by the “Agreement” or the final decisions made in order to “settle all maternal issues”. Then finally a “Trail” where the final details are decided by a judge very shortly after all material is presented (Obringer). As if this process isn’t enough of a toll, there are also many other changes each spouse must go through in order to begin a new life as a single person again. A few of the adjustments include money, career changes, and emotional tolls. For some families going from a two person income to one can change their accustomed life style where “money becomes a significant problem.” This can lead to work problems where the exosystem, links between a social setting as stated in the Life-Span textbook by the Bronfenbrenner Ecological Theory, is effected and the spouse could become “less focused at work” or even loss their job, or become forced to find something with a better pay, though less enjoyable, so they will be able to provide for their families. These two things alone often cause major
The decision for a couple to divorce is, at best, an emotionally difficult and exhausting time.
Unfortunately, marriage within the twenty first century is not something that has been promised to be forever. Therefore, a divorce between married couples seem to be growing at a faster rate than ever before. Divorce comes with not only the financial burden, but the emotional trauma. According to Brienna Perelli-Harris, “...divorce is expensive and complex and in many cases associated with anger, stress and bureaucratic obstacles.” With this idea of divorce, cohabitation is shown in a brighter light. Cohabiting couples, if separated, can do so with greater freedom. With greater freedom, seperation becomes something that is “easier to dissolve for any reason” (Perelli-Harris). Often, those in a marriage cannot leave each other too easily because of society’s common ideals of what a marriage should be; a union meant to be forever. Therefore, cohabitation is on the rise due to the stress free ending it would allow for each partner to
Since the creation of mankind, humans all over the world have fallen in love and believe that they have found “the one.” People get married and realize that it is not always “happily ever after.” A large percentage of couples are unable to maintain their relationship, because of this, they choose divorce. Many spouses, believe that this is the best solution to deal with problems between each other. However, many people think carefully before getting entangled into marriage. Nevertheless, divorce rates still continue to increase to this very day. It certainly looks as if divorces occur more now than they did 20 years ago. There are three causes of divorce: changing of a woman’s household status, financial situations, and lack of communication.
According to a survey conducted by Daily Infographic, poor communication, finances, abuse, lack of interest in each other, and infidelity are the top five most typical reasons for divorce. In marriage, hurdles such as arguments, contrasting ideas, and other problematic circumstances are as inevitable as taxes. The significant factor though is how a couple (despite their differences) handles those quandaries. Although divorce can be a remedy to an undesired relationship, the dissolution of marriage can be distressing and can cause economic adversity to the couple, and can bear a negative impact on the child. I believe a couple doesn’t want to see their marriage down the drain; yet, sometimes, they think that divorce is their only outlet.
A divorce is defined as “a judicial declaration dissolving a marriage in whole or part, especially on that releases the marriage partners from all matrimonial obligations” as stated by www.dictionary.com/browse/divorce. In current society divorces has been a well-known phenomenon and is quite common t everyone. Couples are getting divorced die to many reasons. Some of them are, but not limited to other love affairs, loss of romantic feelings, infidelity, getting married to young or even conflicts in the home between the two spouses. It is a heavy concept that impacts child(ren) and family one way or the other, both advantageous and negatively.