Only the Philippines and Vatican City still ban civil divorce
Divorce ends a marriage under court or state authority, reallocating property, custody, and support. Fault and no-fault systems both exist; waiting periods and residency rules differ. Annulment voids a marriage, while legal separation keeps the bond. Worldwide, only the Philippines (for most non-Muslims) and Vatican City disallow divorce.
Grounds depend on how a legal system sees marriage: as a contract, a status or a blend. Where it is a contract, one spouse's failure to meet its obligations can justify ending it, while Sweden, Finland, Australia and New Zealand run purely no-fault systems in which either party may leave without proving anything. Some European countries, notably several former communist states, allow a single ground of irretrievable breakdown, interpreted liberally in some places and strictly in others.
Before the late 1960s nearly every country that allowed divorce required one spouse to prove an offence by the other. No-fault statutes spread across the West in the late 1960s and early 1970s, accepting irreconcilable differences, incompatibility or de facto separation instead. Fault cases could turn on accusations of collusion, condonation, connivance or provocation, and the doctrine of comparative rectitude weighs which spouse bears more blame. Separation periods have kept shrinking: France cut its requirement from six years to two in 2005, Switzerland from four to two that same year, and Greece from four to two in 2008.
Most divorces take effect only once a judge certifies them, though some countries let an administrative body approve an agreed split. Courts may respect prenuptial or post-nuptial agreements, and contested cases over custody or assets cost more and last longer. Summary divorce, where offered, is reserved for couples with short marriages of under five years, no children and little property.
Source: Divorce
