There are so many divorces in this day and age, with statistics becoming ever more appalling every year for people with a firm interest in the sanctity of marriage. But with the institution of divorce less of a stigma now than it ever was before, people who choose to end their marriages are doing it more and more amicably every year. An acceptance that the couple simply was not suited, that the marriage had run its course or that they rushed into something before they were ready – all of these may be stipulated as reasons for bringing a marriage to an end. These divorces are known as “no fault divorces”, because the couple agrees that nobody was at fault.

Alternatively there are still some marriages that end in fireworks. Often these marriages are the ones where to begin with, the couple was more certain than anything that they were marrying their soul mate. A feeling that they would come to regret later in life when it came to their attention that their spouse had done something so unforgivable that not only were they not going to remain man and wife, but that they had begun to nurture a special kind of loathing that can only be calmed by dragging their formerly beloved through the courts in a case designed to expose them as just the worst kind of person that exists.

In general, an “at fault” or simply “fault” divorce is one that comes about because one member of the couple blames the other for the failure of the marriage, and gives a specific reason why. This will be specified in the court when the couple divorce, and will often be a precursor to the legal division of assets. This is common mostly in cases where one party has been adulterous, and in such cases it can be readily assumed that the “wronged party” – the one who was the victim of infidelity – will get the upper had where division of assets is concerned.

The response to a petition in the courts for a fault divorce may be a no-contest plea, or it may be contested. If the divorce is contested then it will be by way of a defense presented in the court. There are four main kinds of defense: Collusion, where the defendant apportions some of the blame for their transgression on their spouse, who they believe to have “set them up” in order to secure a divorce; Condonation, where they defend their transgression by saying that their spouse knew all about it and had given their blessing; Connivance, where they excuse their transgression by saying that their spouse enticed them to commit it; and Provocation, often used in cases where one spouse's temper has been given as the “fault”, and they blame their spouse for triggering any such behavior.

Defenses are rare in fault divorce cases, as they are expensive and rarely successful. If a fault can be proven, the divorce will go ahead on the vast majority of occasions.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational and entertainment purposes only, and should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter.