Should Divorce Laws be Made Easier?

Complicated laws entangle the divorcing couple into legal hassles and aggravate their unhappy state. Unable to solve through the judicial issues, separating spouses get forced to hire expensive solicitors and fight out long-drawn court battles. This compels the entire family into the court room. Children and other relatives get sucked into the case giving testimony. Moreover, hiring divorce lawyers drains the already sparse family resources. Families slip into extreme economic difficulty following the separation.

Such a situation is extremely difficult for both the spouses, more so for the woman who is a respondent in the divorce case. The unexpected marital termination and managing the entire divorce affair all alone will expose her to the risk of being short-changed.

To prevent victimisation of the aggrieved party and development of such difficult situations, it is necessary that divorce laws be made more easy and relaxed. People intending a split should be enabled to do so quickly and efficiently with their dignity intact.

Liberalise Divorce Laws

‘Marriages are for life’ -- every person tying the knot believes so, and aspires for it. However, practical life is much different from lofty beliefs or ideal scenarios.

Usually, people marry (the first time) when they are in their late 20s or early 30s and a few marry young. When they ultimately find it incompatible to live with their spouse, they should be given the freedom to get out of the situation, though divorce laws will leave them trapped in an unsuccessful marriage, and force them to suffer for the next half of a century (General life expectancies in the UK are 79.4 years.).

Stringent laws not only affect the suffering spouses, but also they emotionally damage the children. These innocent victims who live in an environment made despondent by regular insults, fear, and sadness will turn emotionally insecure and develop adjustment problems. Research has proved that if children grow with single parents, in an environment devoid of such negativity, they mature into healthy individuals.

However, at the other end of the spectrum lies an entirely different view-point. Many people fear that if divorces are made extremely easy, people will lose interest to invest adequately in a marriage. They will be less inclined to help their spouse succeed professionally or deliberate long term plans that financially benefit the entire family. Some, therefore, argue against making laws easier and such opponents presumably outnumber the advocates.

Liberal Divorce Laws and Enhanced Divorce Rate

Adversaries of liberal divorce laws also believe that if divorce becomes easier to obtain, married people will contemplate it at the first hint of trouble.

These arguments appear biased. People, who opt for a divorce, are much aware of the negative consequences of their decision. Rarely does anyone terminate a marriage just because the law easily enables them to do so.

Divorce laws must be relaxed so that unhappy marital partners are not made to suffer just because they married wrong. However, to prevent couples from terminating low-conflict marriages, a few measures must be implemented.

Every divorce (where domestic violence is absent) should be granted after ascertaining that couples have tried out marriage counselling. Such sessions develop the communication and problem solving skills of conflicting couples and teach them the value of compromise.

Separating spouses should also be encouraged to evaluate the consequence of their choice on their children, career, financial status and even their health. Such insistence prevents divorce in haste, for those who divorce thus repent in leisure.

Divorce laws should not only be made easier, they should also aim at preventing contested divorces. Families can be safeguarded from the evils of contested divorces by legalising prenuptial agreement for one of the most contended issues during divorce is financial settlement. It should also be made mandatory for all couples to undergo divorce counselling before contesting their case.

Such measures, if implemented, will rid society of the evils associated with divorce. Merely making laws more stringent will only turn families unhappy, and this will harm not only the society but even the nation at large.