18 Facts About Divorce

Divorce is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union.

Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the bonds of matrimony between a married couple under the rule of law of the particular country or state.

Divorce is different from annulment, which declares the marriage null and void, with legal separation or de jure separation or with de facto separation.

Divorce laws are not static; they often change reflecting evolving social norms of societies.

In 2011, in the US, the Coalition for Divorce Reform was established, describing itself as an organization "dedicated to supporting efforts to reduce unnecessary divorce and promote healthy marriages".

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Divorce is sometimes caused by one of the partners finding the other unattractive.

Divorce has increased across Europe in the past decade – the rate varies between European countries.

Divorce is considered socially unacceptable by most of the population in certain Sub-Saharan African countries such as Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria and Kenya, South Asian countries including India and Pakistan and South-East Asian countries such as the Philippines and Indonesia.

Divorce is widely accepted in certain Muslim majority countries such as Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, at least when men initiate it.

Divorce was rare in early Roman culture but as their empire grew in power and authority Roman civil law embraced the maxim, "", and either husband or wife could renounce the marriage at will.

Divorce was granted only because one party to the marriage had violated a sacred vow to the "innocent spouse".

Divorce was legalised in France after the French revolution on a similar basis, although the legal order of the ancien regime was reinstated at the Bourbon restoration of 1816.

The first law to regulate divorce was the Divorce Act of 1932, which passed the Republican Parliament despite the opposition of the Catholic Church and a coalition of the Agrarian Minority and Minority Basque-Navarre Catholic parties.

Divorce has become commonplace in some countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, Scandinavia, and the United Kingdom.

The Indian Divorce Act 1869 is the law relating to the divorce of person professing the Christian religion.

Divorce can be sought by a husband or wife on grounds including adultery, cruelty, desertion for two years, religious conversion, mental abnormality, venereal disease, and leprosy.

Divorce is available based on mutual consent of both the spouses, which can be filed after at least one year of separated living.

Divorce rates increased after World War II because people were quick to marry each other before they went to war.