Divorce laws that are meant to provide relief, do not deliver the intended results if they turn into agonizing soap operas.

The enactment of the Divorce Reform Act of 1969 in the United

Kingdom witnessed a surge in the number of divorces filed and granted.

This law made possible the easier annulment of a marriage, without the

need for justifying a fault, as was existing until then. More

importantly it set out to correct the miseries suffered by the wife or

children, at the hands of domineering, egoistic men. These no-fault divorce laws were just the remedy that the good doctor had prescribed because, in the subsequent years, the growth rate of divorce had substantially increased, as a direct consequence of the no-fault divorce law. Is it a sign of the establishing rot or is it a proof of the mid-course correction?

Marriage is a social act for the betterment and longevity of civilization, in the familiar form that we all know. When it turns out that the expectations of a marital life do not bear fruition, couples part ways agreeably or contest the divorce for various reasons. One of the hidden reasons for a contested divorce is the compelling urge of an egoistic / offended spouse, to hit back at the other, using legal tactics. Tough divorce laws have aided such misdeeds.

When legal battle lines are drawn in marriage, irrespective of the outcome, it is time, money and goodwill that are the definite casualties. The lawyer has to be paid, lost employment hours cause lost monetary payments for the parties to the divorce, acrimonious debates, circuitous procedures to be followed and extensive paperwork are the hallmarks of a contested divorce. How can the couple afford to reconcile or have neutral feelings for each other, after the bitterness exacted by the inflexible divorce laws?

Divorce proceedings focus the unwelcome spotlight, on children and aged parents. It brings out and highlights the negative aspects of a once sacred relationship. Anybody and everybody, whose presence can influence a favourable or unfavourable verdict, are allowed to intrude or roped into this legal drama. Where has all the goodness gone? Putting the relationship under a legal microscope strains everything that is positive about the relationship.

The act of marriage is the culmination of positive feelings for each other. Time can, however, prove the haziness of such optimism, if concrete mutual efforts do not materialize to stabilize the marriage. We all make mistakes some time or the other, don’t we? So, how is marriage exempt from being a mistake or isn’t it more prone to mistakes, especially when it deals with something abstract like the feelings of two people, at a given point of time? Shouldn’t there be an easy way for people to climb out of those mistakes without undergoing an ordeal, because of the not-so-easy divorce laws?

The younger generation has willingly adopted a flawed alternative to the prospect of an uncertain marriage and the cumbersome divorce laws. Live-in relationships are finding increasing favour with the younger generation. Though this concept may be a quick solution to the negative side of marriage and the rigmarole of divorce, it is seriously threatening the continued existence of our social fabric. More and more people are not treating marriage as a serious commitment.

The growing advocates of tougher divorce laws, as a means to control the runaway divorce rate, are only succeeding in artificially propping up the feel-good factor pertaining to the control of high divorce rates. In reality, the workarounds like live-in relationships, postponement of marriage age coupled with far-from-ideal divorce laws are wreaking havoc on society, silently.

Despite the existence of no-fault divorce laws, the mechanism of divorce mediation is also finding increasing favour with couples who intend to divorce. It is obvious that the outlook of any couple intending to split, surely desires to exclude or keep to a minimum, the legal procedures. A majority of the divorce cases, in the U.K and the U.S are uncontested

divorces. Notwithstanding the tirade of the hardliners (for tougher divorce laws), the unambiguous and practical message to the law makers is loud and clear. Ease the existing divorce laws, please.