Exam 6: Divorce and Remarriage

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Before "no fault" divorce became legal, there were two main methods of ending a marriage: fault-based divorce and annulment.

Fault-based divorce required one spouse to prove that the other spouse had committed a specific wrongdoing, such as adultery, abandonment, or cruelty. This often led to lengthy and contentious legal battles, as the accused spouse would often contest the allegations in order to avoid being held at fault for the divorce.

Annulment, on the other hand, was a legal declaration that the marriage was invalid from the beginning, essentially erasing it as if it never existed. Grounds for annulment included situations where one spouse was already married, where one spouse was underage at the time of the marriage, or where the marriage was entered into under duress or fraud.

Both fault-based divorce and annulment were complex and often required significant evidence and legal representation to successfully end a marriage. The introduction of "no fault" divorce laws in the United States in the 1970s simplified the process by allowing couples to divorce without having to prove fault or wrongdoing, leading to a significant shift in how marriages were legally dissolved.