Divorce: Society Before Change, Laws, Attitudes

Divorce
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Abstract
Since many decades ago, marriage is considered a legal agreement between two parties. They are bound by certain laws that they should obey at any given point in their marriage. However, several factors might result in the parties being unable to stay with one another and, hence this calls for them to divorce. A divorce is the legal termination of the rules that bind a marriage, hence freeing the parties from the laws that were binding them. The divorce process is carried out in a court of law or a magistrate's office. However, throughout history, divorce has undergone a lot of changes that determine the manner in which it is carried out. Many cultures across the world have different views about the issue of marriage as well as that of divorce. Therefore, the way that divorce is conducted depends on the part of the world that a person is from. However, most of the countries have a similar law governing the grounds for filing a divorce and the consequences that follow after the divorce.
Laws have been made governing the grounds under which a couple can file for a divorce. Such laws depend on the reason as to why the parties want to file for a divorce. There have been various amendments changing the manner in which such laws dictate divorce. Hence these amendments have brought various changes in divorce which have created challenges and consequences in the process.
Before the year 1969, the cost of filing a divorce was very high, and hence, it was only affordable by the rich. The ordinary citizens ended up abusive marriages because they could not “afford to file for divorce” (O'Sullivan, 2016). The law was amended by making it possible for the divorce proceeding to be carried out in the court of law instead of the parliament. This meant that the ordinary people could afford a divorce process. In addition, the law was later changed thus making it possible for both men and women to file for a divorce. Before, then women were required to prove the infidelity of their partners in addition to other crimes such as assault and rape for them to be accorded a divorce. Men could easily file for a divorce. As well, the reasons as to why individuals could file for divorce were also changed. After the amendment, the matrimonial offenses increased the chances of people getting a divorce. In the current world, the laws regarding divorce have changed across different cultures and religions, hence granting people a chance to decide whether they wanted to be in marriage or not (Mason, 2015).
One of the challenges that face the issue of divorce is the bias in the issue of child custody. Most of the laws favor the mother of the child in regard to the parent who should live with them. In rare cases does the father get to have custody of the kids. For instance, in most countries, the children are left under the care of the mother as long as she is capable of taking care of them until they reach the age of eighteen years. Therefore, the father has to file a strong case for them to be accorded custody of the kids (Lingertat-Putnam, 2017). In rare cases, does the father of the child get sole custody of the children. Therefore, this means that the divorce laws are biased ag...