Divorce

1
Divorce

• Unit 23

2
Learning outcomes of the Unit 23

• Students will be able to
• define the concept of divorce
• explain the difference between divorce and
  annulment of marriage
• explain the difference between the marriage
  contract and other business contracts
• explain the changes in the UK legal system
  concerning divorce
• name the main consequences of the divorce
• explain and translate key terms related to the
  topic

3
Definition

• Divorce or dissolution of marriage is the final
  termination of a marriage
• ? canceling the legal duties and
• responsibilities of marriage
• ? dissolving the bonds of matrimony
• between married persons
• ? an annulment of marriage which is a declaration
  that a marriage is void

4
Difference between a marriage contract and other
contracts

• spouses (contracting parties) do not determine
  the rules governing marriage, they are laid down
  by law
• they do not agree on the grounds for the breach
  of the contract
• they do not determine the compensation for the
  breach
• they do not define the procedure of bringing a
  marriage contract to an end

5
Doctrine of the matrimonial offence

• In England before 1969
• - innocent party had to prove that the other
  party was guilty of a wrongful conduct
• - adultery
• - cruelty
• - desertion
• (exception incurable insanity, added as a
  ground by the 1937 Act)
• - background the punitive approach of the
  ecclesiastical law to the spouse who caused the
  breakdown of a marriage

6
Since 1969...

• JUDICIAL SEPARATION
• Irretrievable breakdown / differences on the
  basis of one of five grounds became the test for
  divorce
• adultery
• unreasonable behaviour
• desertion by the other partener after two years
• separation with consent after two years
• separation without consent after five years

7
The Divorce Petition

• The divorce petition is
• a formal complaint,
• typically put together by one spouse with the
  help of a divorce lawyer
• It's filed with the divorce court
• usually must be filed in the county of residence
  of the person filing for divorce regardless of
  where the couple was married.
• The spouse who files the divorce petition is
  known from that point forward as the petitioner,
  and the other spouse as the respondent.

8
Consequences to be considered...

• The legal process for divorce may also involve
  issues of
• spousal support
• child custody
• child support
• distribution of property
• division of debt

9
Read the text, p. 108, and find English
expressions for the following Croatian
equivalents.

1. poništiti, promijeniti ili otkazati/ukinuti
   ugovor
2. biti propisan zakonom
3. raskid ugovora
4. štetan/protuzakonit postupak poput preljuba,
   zlostavljanja i napuštanja
5. osnova za razvod
6. represivni pristup crkvenog prava
7. neuspjeh braka
8. raskid bracnih veza
9. cin nasilja

10
Answer the following questions.

1. What does marriage have in common with other
   contracts?
2. What differentiates it from other contracts?
   (Who determines the rules governing marriage? Can
   the parties agree on what amounts to a breach of
   the contract, what the compensation is or how the
   contract is ended?)
3. Who was divorce granted to until 1969?
4. How does divorce usually affect children?
5. How has the public attitude to divorce changed in
   the last thirty years?
6. What are the admissable grounds for divorce
   nowdays?
7. What brought about the great change in perceiving
   divorce?