Editing Divorce (section)

===Types===
In some jurisdictions, the courts will seldom apply principles of fault, but might willingly hold a party liable for a breach of a fiduciary duty to his or her spouse. Grounds for divorce differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction in the worldwide. Some states have [[no-fault divorce]]; some states require a declaration of fault on the part of one partner or both; some states allow either method.<ref>{{cite web|title=Divorce Magazine Grounds for Divorce|url=http://www.divorcemag.com/articles/grounds|access-date=2013-10-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926153011/http://www.divorcemag.com/articles/grounds/|archive-date=2013-09-26|url-status=live}}</ref>

In most jurisdictions, a divorce must be certified or ordered by a Judge in a court of law to come into effect. The terms of the divorce are usually determined by the courts, though they may take into account prenuptial agreements or post-nuptial agreements, or ratify terms that the spouses may have agreed to privately, while in other areas, agreements related to the marriage have to be rendered in writing to be enforceable. In the absence of agreement, a contested divorce may be stressful to the spouses.

In some countries,{{Where|date=November 2012}} when the spouses agree to divorce and to the terms of the divorce, it can be certified by a non-judiciary administrative entity. The effect of a divorce is that both parties are free to marry again if a filing in an appellate court does not overturn the decision.

====Contested divorce====
Contested divorces mean that one of several issues are required to be heard by a judge at trial level—this is more expensive, and the parties will have to pay for a lawyer's time and preparation. In such a divorce the spouses are not able to agree on issues for instance child custody and division of marital assets. In such situations, the litigation process takes longer to conclude.<ref name=DSA>{{cite web|url=http://divorcesupport.about.com/od/typesofdivorc1/p/contesteddiv.htm|title=Issues Surrounding a Contested Divorce|first=Cathy|last=Meyer|website=About.com|access-date=10 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131113205852/http://divorcesupport.about.com/od/typesofdivorc1/p/contesteddiv.htm|archive-date=13 November 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The judge controls the outcome of the case. Less adversarial approaches to [[divorce settlement]]s have recently emerged, such as mediation and collaborative divorce settlement, which negotiate mutually acceptable resolution to conflicts. This principle in the United States is called 'Alternative Dispute Resolution' and has gained popularity.

====At-fault divorce====
Before the late 1960s, nearly all countries that permitted divorce required proof by one party that the other party had committed an act incompatible with the marriage. This was termed "grounds" for divorce (popularly called "fault") and was the only way to terminate a marriage. No-fault divorce is available in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States and other Western countries.

Fault-based divorces can be contested; evaluation of offences may involve allegations of [[collusion]] of the parties working together to get the divorce, or [[condonation]] by approving the offence, [[connivance]]  by tricking someone into committing an offence, or [[provocation (legal)|provocation]] by the other party. Contested fault divorces can be expensive, and not usually practical as eventually most divorces are granted. Comparative rectitude is a doctrine used to determine which spouse is more at fault when both spouses are guilty of breaches.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=San Antonio Divorce Center|title=Comparative Rectitude|url=http://divorcelawsanantonio.com/glossary/|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029041744/http://divorcelawsanantonio.com/glossary/|archive-date=2014-10-29}}</ref>

The grounds for a divorce which a party could raise and need to prove included 
* desertion  
* abandonment (typically 1 year)
* cruelty
* habitual drunkenness
* drug addiction
* adultery

The requirement of proving a ground was revised and withdrawn by the terms of 'no-fault' statutes, which became popular in many Western countries in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 'no-fault' jurisdictions divorce can be obtained either on a simple allegation of 'irreconcilable differences,' 'irretrievable break-down', or 'incompatibility' with respect to the marriage relationship, or on the ground of {{nowrap|de facto}} separation.

====Summary divorce====
A summary or simple divorce, available in some jurisdictions{{which|date=January 2016}}, is used when spouses meet certain eligibility requirements or can agree on key issues beforehand.

Key factors:
* Short duration of marriage (less than five years)
* Absence of children (or, in some jurisdictions, prior allocation of child custody and of child-support direction and amount)
* Absence or minimal value of real property at issue and any associated encumbrances such as mortgages
* Absence of agreed-as-marital property above a given value threshold (around $35,000 not including vehicles)
* Absence, with respect to each spouse, of claims to personal property above a given value threshold, typically the same as that for total marital property, with such claims including claims to exclusive previous ownership of property described by the other spouse as marital

==== No-fault divorce ====
Most Western jurisdictions have a [[no-fault divorce]] system, in which a divorce can be granted based only on the assertion by one of the parties that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, without any need for an allegation or proof of fault.<ref>{{cite web|title=No Fault Divorce Law & Legal Definition|url=http://definitions.uslegal.com/n/no-fault-divorce/|publisher=US Legal|access-date=3 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202125654/http://definitions.uslegal.com/n/no-fault-divorce/|archive-date=2 February 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> The application can be made by either party or by both parties jointly.

In jurisdictions adopting the no-fault principle, some courts may still take fault into account when determining some aspects of the terms of the divorce decree, for example, the division of property and debts and provision of spousal support. Some behaviors that may constitute marital fault, such as violence, cruelty, or substance abuse may also  be considered when determining child custody, but child custody judgements are made based on a different fundamental standard: the child's or children's best interests.

====Uncontested divorce====
A large percentage of divorce cases are "uncontested", meaning that the parties to the divorce are able to come to an agreement about the division of property, custody children, and support issues instead of having those issues decided by a judge.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kay |first1=Herma H. |title=An Appraisal of California's No-Fault Divorce Law |journal=California Law Review |date=1987 |volume=75 |page=291}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Quek Anderson |first1=Dorcas |last2=Chua |first2=Eunice |last3=Ning |first3=Yilin |title=To negotiate, mediate or litigate? Examining the durability of divorce outcomes in the Singapore family courts |journal=Family Court Review |date=July 2022 |volume=60 |issue=3 |pages=434–457 |doi=10.1111/fcre.12661}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Dijksterhuis |editor1-first=Bregje |editor2-last=Maclean |editor2-first=Mavis |editor3-last=Treloar |editor3-first=Rachel |title=What is a family justice system for? |date=2022 |publisher=Hart |location=Oxford ; New York |isbn=9781509950997 |page=160}}</ref> This is also known as mutual consent divorce or mutual divorce.<ref>{{cite web |title=Divorce by mutual consent |url=https://en.eustat.eus/documentos/elem_12679/definicion.html |website=Eustat |publisher=Instituto Vasco de Estadística |access-date=21 February 2025}}</ref> When the parties can agree and present the court with a fair and equitable agreement, approval of the divorce is typically granted.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Wardle |first1=Lynn D. |title=No-Fault Divorce and the Divorce Conundrum |journal=Brigham Young University Law Journal |date=1991 |volume=1991 |issue=1}}</ref> Where the issues are not complex and the parties are cooperative, a settlement often can be directly negotiated between them. If the two parties cannot come to an agreement, they may ask the court to decide how to split property and deal with the custody of their children. Though this may be necessary, the courts would prefer parties to come to an agreement prior to entering court.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Galanter |first1=Marc |last2=Cahil |first2=Mia |title=Most Cases Settle: Judicial Promotion and Regulation of Settlements |journal=Stanford Law Review |date=1993 |volume=46 |page=1339}}</ref>

In the [[United States]], many [[state court (United States)|state court]] systems report that a significant number of divorce cases are filed ''[[pro se]]'', meaning that the parties to the divorce represent themselves without a lawyer. For example, courts in urban areas of California report that almost 80% of new divorces are filed ''pro se''.<ref name=trends>{{cite web |url=http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/cfcc/pdffiles/HelpThemselves.pdf |title=Trends in Pro Se Litigation |website=Courtinfo.ca.gov |date=2019-02-11 |access-date=2010-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100607133606/http://courtinfo.ca.gov/programs/cfcc/pdffiles/HelpThemselves.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-07 |url-status=live }}</ref>

====Collaborative divorce====
[[Collaborative divorce]] is a method for divorcing couples to come to an agreement on divorce issues. In a collaborative divorce, the parties negotiate an agreed resolution with the assistance of [[Lawyer|attorneys]] who are trained in the collaborative divorce process and in mediation and often with the assistance of a neutral financial specialist or divorce coaches. The parties are empowered to make their own decisions based on their own needs and interests, but with complete information and full professional support.

Once the collaborative divorce starts, the lawyers are disqualified from representing the parties in a contested legal proceeding, should the [[collaborative law]] process end prematurely. Most attorneys who practise collaborative divorce claim that it can be more cost-effective than other divorce methods, ''e.g.'', going to court.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ncdivorcelaw.com/practice-areas/collaborative-law/ |title=NC Collaborative Law Attorneys |last=Williams |first=Miles |publisher=Williams Law Group |access-date=2014-11-13 |quote=Finally, the costs of the collaborative process can and should be substantially less than that of a traditional litigated case because the attorney's time will be minimized by not having to prepare a case for trial. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113184717/https://ncdivorcelaw.com/practice-areas/collaborative-law/ |archive-date=2014-11-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

====Electronic divorce====
[[Portugal]], for example, allows two persons to file an [[Computer file|electronic]] request for [[no-fault divorce|no-fault]] [[collaborative divorce]] in a non [[judiciary]] [[Administration (government)|administrative]] [[Legal entity|entity]]. In specific cases, with no [[children]], [[real property]], [[alimony]], or common address, can be completed within one hour.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/portugal-divorce-in-one-hour/ |title=Portugal: Divorce in One Hour - Global Legal Monitor |publisher=Library of Congress |access-date=2021-05-13 |archive-date=13 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513204034/https://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/article/portugal-divorce-in-one-hour/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Emery">{{cite book|last1=Emery|first1=Robert E.|title=Cultural Sociology of Divorce : An Encyclopedia|date=2013|publisher=SAGE Reference|location=Thousand Oaks, Calif.|isbn=978-1412999588|page=416}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Portugal cria o divórcio pela Internet – ANOREG | website=ANOREG | url=https://www.anoreg.org.br/site/imported_11942/ | language=pt | access-date=August 15, 2023}}</ref>

====Mediated divorce====
Divorce mediation is an alternative to traditional divorce litigation. In a divorce mediation session, a mediator facilitates the discussion between the two parties by assisting with communication and providing information and suggestions to help resolve differences. At the end of the mediation process, the separating parties have typically developed a tailored divorce agreement that can be submitted to the court. Mediation sessions can include either party's attorneys, a neutral attorney, or an attorney-mediator who can inform both parties of their legal rights, but does not provide advice to either, or can be conducted with the assistance of a facilitative or transformative mediator without attorneys present at all. Some mediation companies, such as Wevorce, also pair clients with counselors, financial planners and other professionals to work through common mediation sticking points.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kelleher|first=Susan|title=Couples can divorce without drama: Beyond the hurt, anger and fear|url=http://seattletimes.com/html/living/2021609531_gooddivorce0901xml.html|access-date=10 September 2013|date=30 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130910174736/http://seattletimes.com/html/living/2021609531_gooddivorce0901xml.html|archive-date=10 September 2013}}</ref> Divorce mediators may be attorneys who have experience in divorce cases, or they may be professional mediators who are not attorneys, but who have training specifically in the area of family court matters. Divorce mediation can be significantly less costly, both financially and emotionally, than litigation. The adherence rate to mediated agreements is much higher than that of adherence to court orders.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}