This article is a general overview of divorce laws around the world. Every nation except Malta, the Philippines, and the Vatican City allows some form of divorce.
Muslim societies
In Muslim societies, legislation concerning divorce varies from country to country. Different Muslim scholars can have slightly differing interpretations of divorce in Islam, (e.g. concerning triple talaq).
No-fault divorce is allowed in Muslim societies, although normally only with the consent of the husband. A wife seeking divorce is normally required to give one of several specific justifications (see below).
If the man seeks divorce or was divorced, he has to cover the expenses of his ex-wife feeding his child and expenses of the child until the child is two years old (that is if the child is under two years old). The child is still the child of the couple despite the divorce.
If it is the wife who seeks divorce, she must go to a court. She must provide evidence of ill treatment, inability to sustain her financially, sexual impotence on the part of the husband, her dislike of his looks, etc. The husband may be given time to fix the problem, but if he fails, the appointed judge will divorce the couple if the couple still wish to be divorced.
See also: Talaq (conflict) and At-TalaqArgentina
In Argentina, the legalisation of divorce was the result of a struggle between different governments and conservative groups, mostly connected to the Catholic Church. The first attempt to introduce the law was in 1888, but conservative and religious groups kept blocking the bill, which never became a law.
Only in 1954, President Juan Domingo Perón, who was opposed to the Church, had the law passed for the first time in the country. But Perón was forced out of the presidency one year later by a military revolt, and the government that succeeded him, abolished the law.
Finally, in 1987, President Raúl Alfonsín tried to pass the law again, under the strong opposition of a part of the Church, and the tolerance of another part, that nonetheless stated that the new right was not for Catholics, but for the rest of the Argentine society. The most intransigent sectors of the Church asked for the law not to be promulgated, after Congress passed it. They even considered excommunicating the Congress members who had voted favourably. Although this idea was eventually left aside, one bishop did excommunicate Congress members under his jurisdiction.
Brazil
Presumably due to the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, divorce only became legal in Brazil in 1977. Since January 2007, Brazilian couples can request a divorce at a notary's office when there is a consensus, the couple has been separated for more than a year and have no underage or special-needs children. The divorcees need only to present their national IDs, marriage certificate and pay a small fee to initiate the process, which is completed in two or three weeks.
Canada
Canada did not have a federal divorce law until 1968. Before that time, the process for getting a divorce varied from province to province. In Newfoundland and Quebec, it was necessary to get a private Act of Parliament in order to end a marriage. Most other provinces incorporated the English Matrimonial Causes Act of 1857 which allowed a husband to get a divorce on the grounds of his wife's adultery and a wife to get one only if she established that her husband committed any of a list of particular sexual behaviours but not simply adultery. Some provinces had legislation allowing either spouse to get a divorce on the basis of adultery.
The federal Divorce Act of 1968 standardized the law of divorce across Canada and introduced the no-fault concept of permanent marriage breakdown as a ground for divorce as well as fault based grounds including adultery, cruelty and desertion.
In Canada, while civil and political rights are in the jurisdiction of the provinces, the Constitution of Canada specifically made marriage and divorce the realm of the federal government. Essentially this means that Canada's divorce law is uniform throughout Canada, even in Quebec, which differs from the other provinces in its use of the civil law as codified in the Civil Code of Quebec as opposed to the common law that is in force in the other provinces and generally interpreted in similar ways throughout the Anglo-Canadian provinces.
The Canada Divorce Act recognizes divorce only on the ground of breakdown of the marriage. Breakdown can only be established if one of three grounds hold: adultery, cruelty, and being separated for one year. Most divorces proceed on the basis of the spouses being separated for one year, even if there has been cruelty or adultery. This is because proving cruelty or adultery is expensive and time consuming. The one-year period of separation starts from the time at least one spouse intends to live separate and apart from the other and acts on it. A couple does not need a court order to be separated, since there is no such thing as a "legal separation" in Canada. A couple can even be considered to be "separated" even if they are living in the same dwelling. Either spouse can apply for a divorce in the province in which either the husband or wife has lived for at least one year.
On September 13, 2004, the Ontario Court of Appeal declared a portion of the Divorce Act also unconstitutional for excluding same-sex marriages, which at the time of the decision were recognized in three provinces and one territory. It ordered same-sex marriages read into that act, permitting the plaintiffs, a lesbian couple, to divorce.
Alberta Divorce Law
In Alberta, The Family Law Act gives clear guidelines to family members, lawyers and judges about the rights and responsibilities of family members. It does not cover divorce, and matters involving family property, and child protection matters. The Family Law Act replaces the Domestic Relations Act, the Maintenance Order Act, the Parentage and Maintenance Act, and parts of the Provincial Court Act and the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act.
The Family Law Act can be viewed and printed from the Alberta Queen’s Printer website at: www.qp.gov.ab.ca
You must go to the Court of Queens Bench if you need a declaration of parentage for all purposes, you have property you want the court to divide or protect, and you want a declaration of irreconcilability.
Separation or Divorce: There is no such thing a “legal separation” in Canada. Sometimes when people say they are “legally separated” what they really mean is that they have entered into a legally binding agreement, sometimes called either a “Separation Agreement”, “Divorce Agreement”, “Custody, Access and Property Agreement”, or “Minutes of Settlement”. These types of agreements are usually prepared by lawyers, signed in front of witnesses, and legal advice is given to both parties signing the agreement. These types of agreements will, in most cases, be upheld by the courts. (Source: http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/ProvincialCourt/FamilyJusticeServices/FamilyLawInformationCentres/CommonQuestions/tabid/139/Default.aspx)
The first step - Divorce in Alberta You must firstly obtain the 'Alberta Divorce Kit' from either Queens Printer (Edmonton - Main Floor, Park Plaza, 10611-98 Avenue, Edmonton. Phone (780) 427-4952 (elsewhere in Alberta, phone 310-0000) at a cost of approx. $35.00. The kit is also available at most stationery/book stores throughout Alberta. The Court will charge a fee of $210.00 for the filing of the Divorce papers. (Source: http://www.albertacourts.ab.ca/ProvincialCourt/FamilyJusticeServices/FamilyLawInformationCentres/CommonQuestions/tabid/139/Default.aspx)
Order the division of property - to do this you go to the Court of Queens Bench.
France
The French Civil code (modified on January 1, 2005), permits divorce for 4 different reasons; mutual consent (which comprises over 60% of all divorces); acceptance; separation of 2 years; and due to the 'fault' of one partner (accounting for most of the other 40%).
India
In Hindu religion marriage is sacrament and not a contract, hence divorce was not recognised before the codification of the Hindu Marriage Act in 1955. With the codification of this law, men and women both are equally eligible to seek divorce. Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains are governed by the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, Christians are governed by The Divorce Act 1869, Parsis by the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936, Muslims by the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939 and Inter-religious marriages are governed by The Special Marriage Act 1954.
Conditions are laid down to perform a marriage between a man and woman by these laws. Based on these a marriage is validated, if not it is termed as void marriage or voidable marriage at the option of either of the spouse. Here upon filing a petition by any one spouse before the Court of law a decree of nullity is passed declaring the marriage as null and void.
A valid marriage can be dissolved by a decree of dissolution of marriage or divorce and Hindu Marriage Act, The Divorce Act and Special Marriage Act allow such a decree only on specific grounds as provided in these acts viz.,adultery,desertion,impotency,venereal disease,{,, and the last and the best option is mutual consent where no reason has to be given. Since each case is different, court interpretations of the statutory law gets evolved and have either narrowed or widened th
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