What is Divorce?

Divorce is legally called "the dissolution of marriage." In other words, divorce is the legal breakup of a marriage. It is not a rarity. Currently, half of all marriages in the United States end in divorce, 67 percent of all second marriages and 74 percent of third marriages. Like other serious and major life changes, it is extremely stressful. In many ways it is like a death, the death of life as you knew it, the death of a family. If children are involved, they can be dramatically and traumatically affected. Care must be taken to reduce the toll taken on all family members as much as possible. Seeking counseling either separately or together can be a great help.

Beyond just the breakup of a couple, there are many other factors to be considered. Legal duties of the marriage are canceled as are responsibilities of one party to another. Assets and property need to be divided, legalities need to be ironed out. 49 of the 50 states no have "no-fault" divorce which means that there does not have to be proof that one party is at fault.

There are several ways to handle the division of the assets. The couple can decide together who gets what and reach agreement with lawyers assisting. This is called a collaborative divorce. There is also the mediated divorce, where if the couple cannot reach an agreement, a court-appointed mediator, or a hired mediator, comes up with a plan or facilitates discussion. Divorce is not final until a judge or other authority sanctions it.