Intolerable Cruelty

Divorce’s History in America

Divorce is personal, but millions of other Americans have gone through it . 10% of American adults have undergone broken marriages, and the most recently reported dissolution rate for the United States is 3.6 per thousand—over 900,000 per year. There are 9.2% of households in the United States that are headed by a single mother, and 1.9% are run by single father.

Divorce has been a choice for those living in the United States for just a brief time as compared to the country’s existence. Settlers of early America carried with them English laws allowing marriages to only be dissolved only if one partner could prove genuine fault with their partner, moreover, marriages could only be dissolved legislatively. Adultery, regular drunkenness, intolerable cruelty, desertion, and impotence were among the grounds that were usually accepted. States have wanted ending a marriage to be hard so they enforced mandatory proof of dissertations on court.

Furthermore, the spouse who sues to end a marriage must not be guilty of any cause for dissolution. The decree might be denied by the courts if he or she was found guilty of, for example: contributing to the cause of the break-up, conspiring with the other party to provide grounds, or having forgiven similar behavior in the past. After a divorce occurred, the husband usually was given custody of minor children which added to the reluctance of many women to pursue a divorce.

Society in the 1800s didn’t really have a place for ex-wives. Even naming them was rather difficult for a while. Members of the middle and upper classes called a married woman by her husband’s name “ie Mrs. John Smith”, she kept this name even if her husband died and only changed it if she became married again. A woman whose marriage had ended could never resume “Miss” or her maiden name. Moreover, she had to change her name from “Mrs. John Smith,” to avoid having to face another woman with the same name in the same social group if her ex-husband, Mr. Smith, took another wife. As a compromise it was agreed that a woman would use Mrs. “her maiden surname” then “her married surname”, so if a woman named Betty Jones married a man named John Smith, she would then be called Mrs. Jones Smith after her marriage.

Over time, many Americans began to think that the old ways of dissolving marriages were a problem and overall ineffective. Nevada was one of the first states to allow early decrees to dissolve a marriage; back in the early 20th century, a person only had to be a resident for six weeks before a dissolution decree could be issued. This became a wholesale industry catering to people from eastern states like New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts where divorces were much more severely restricted.

By the mid-twentieth century, most states offered no-fault divorces. Roles for women were changing in addition. With more and better jobs available to women, it became much easier for single women to support themselves. Also, people’s feelings concerning ending a marriage were changing. In previous times, a divorced woman was looked upon with a lot of suspicion and children coming from a “broken home” felt ridiculed by their peers. Over time, these sentiments changed as single parents and homes where the mother and father remained unmarried got to be more prevalent. 28% of American children now live with a single parent.

Even though divorce is still a hard and hurtful process for those going through it, a lot has changed in the past 200 years, making it a feasible choice for Americans. The process of terminating a marriage is still lengthy and complex, however, there is no longer a need for detectives, dealing with the court system, or automatic loss of custody for females.

If you’re interested in more information, you can learn more about my experience as an family law attorney in Austin Texas. You should also watch the free seminar on divorce in Austin TX at www.AustinDivorceHelp.com. Today’s economy has made it even more important to find a way to divorce without spending a fortune. Read the details about the divorce for a flat fee in Austin TX.

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