California Should Have Stricter Divorce Laws Essay

California Should Have Stricter Divorce Laws - Essay Example This skyrocketing number of divorces has resulted in greater numbers of children being separated from one of their parents and cast into an uncertain future. More importantly, California has made divorce such an easy process that it now suffers from a culture of divorce that is void of personal commitment, places career and finance ahead of relationships, and needs to be reformed to make divorces in California a more deliberate process. A major breakdown in marriage that is caused by easy divorce is the breakdown in the trust and commitment that a couple needs to exist as equal partners. This breakdown begins way before a problem in the marriage surfaces. The easy dissolution of a marriage dilutes the traditional marriage vows and leaves them as little more than a casual agreement. When both spouses live with the anxiety created by the knowledge that the marriage can end at any time, and for no good reason, couples are less likely to invest in their relationship. They may be more reluctant to invest in property or children. A difficult, and more thoughtful approach, to divorce could help restore the belief necessary to remove the uneasiness of living with the thought that your spouse is in no way contractually bound to the you. I think it would also be a significant sign to the children that commitment, promises, and sacred vows have a purpose. It is generally held true that children suffer the most in a divorce. Initially they are impacted by the separation from one of their parents and a confused notion that it may have been their fault. Divorced couples that I have known have greater financial problems that directly impact the children. These parents sharing custody, or with single custody, find less time to involve themselves in the child's life. The child may participate in fewer outside the home activities and have less connection with their social environment. I don't believe that remarriage and step-parenting can ever replace the bond of the biological parents in the minds of the children. These difficulties will follow the child through their life and result in alienation and very little faith in the institution of marriage. While children are taught that commitment has less value in a relationship than the convenience of easy separation, the easy divorce laws reinforce the idea in the minds of adults. Making a career choice or a wish to make a geographical move may break up a marriage. If personal fulfillment outweighs the trust that the partner has invested in the relationship, the jilted spouse will be left with the haunting fear of intimacy. They have come into the institution of marriage with uncertainty and leave it with the certainty of mistrust and betrayal. I think that these issues could be addressed by making the laws on divorce stricter in its requirements that lead into the legal finalities. I think stricter laws on divorce would help insure that the intent of marriage is not at the mercy of whimsical personal preferences. Often, these career or personal preferences are a short-term divergence outside the relationship. They may offer a future that appears to be rosier than it will eventually be. Thoughts of infidelity may wane with time, counseling, or reexamination. However, a quick and easy divorce eliminates any possibility of

Reform Laws and Divorce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Reform Laws and Divorce - Essay Example This paper shall argue on the causes of divorce, while pointing out to the reasons for reform laws on marriages and divorce in the process. A marriage is a standard union between two individuals that are committed to one another and they are to live for each other with the two parties developing common interest, which are economically related in some cases. In marriage, the husband and wife are expected to have a lifetime bond and the strength of this bond all depends on how they could effectively manage their relationship and it is the mismanagement of relationships that ultimately lead to divorce. It is a known fact that most of the divorce cases are filed by women and this is due to the fact that the society has made women to play second fiddle in relationships and when they feel they are no longer enjoying the relationship, they sue for divorce. According to the American Law and Economics Review, more than two-thirds of divorce cases in the United States are filed by women (Brini g & Douglas 126, Khun & John 31) A marriage would surely stand on a proper economic foundation and if the necessary things are not done, the foundation on which the marriage was built would collapse. This is to say that a marriage that the husband or the man of the house cannot meet up with the responsibility in the house in terms of matching his income with the finances at home would begin to crumble. A relationship that is marred by lack of finances or proper management of finance cannot stand and the marriage would ultimately fail. In this case, there needs to be some reform laws on the union of two people as it must be clearly stated that people that are not financially capable to start a family should not even make any attempt to get married in the first place. If this is done, divorce cases that arise as a result of the inability of the husband to cater for the financial needs of the family would never arise (Brinig & Douglas 127). There are several divorce situations that the bride accuses her husband of not being financially capable enough to cater for the family and then sues for divorce and after the hearing of the divorce, the two married parties are legally separated with the husband paying some sum of money for the upkeep of his ex-wife and if they have any issue between them, he is also responsible for the upkeep of the children. Thus, if there have been reform laws that have mandated the wife to ensure that she wants to get married to someone that would take care of the finances of herself and the issue that comes after the marriage, these cases of divorce would be to the barest minimum. Parents hold the responsibility of catering for their children and when this obligation is not fulfilled there could be some cracks in the walls in the family system and this could be the effect of an improperly planned marriage system. Divorce follows an improperly managed marriage, thus there should be some reforms law that seeks to monitor the management of m arriages and this would go a long way to teach the couples the consequences of mismanaging their homes. Some of the reasons women sue for divorce is due to the financial and economical incentives they stand to gain from the dissolution of their marriage and the fact that it is the women that gain more from