Divorce is the ending of a marriage, which can be contrasted with an annulment, a declaration that a marriage is void, though the effects of marriage may be recognized in such unions, such as spousal support, child custody and distribution of property. Divorce is rarely good news and it takes a lot of pragmatism and good will to accomplish a “good” divorce. Although divorce is an extremely traumatic experience for any parent to go through, the first steps are always the most important and the main priority is to keep a level head. Divorce means everything you once took for granted as a child is going to change. The bad thing about divorce is that you no longer share the same friends (in most situations).

In developed countries, divorce rate have increased markedly during the twentieth century. Among the states in which divorce has become commonplace are the United States, Japan, Korea and European Union countries. In Anglo-American jurisdictions this boom in divorce developed in the last half of the twentieth century, corresponding, more or less, with the abolution of such concepts as illegitimacy and the development of the equality of the sexes. The area of divoce as a social phenomenon is is an important research topic in sociology.

Some researchers, although, argue that divorce rate does not always reflect actual interaction among people; that is, some countries may show a low divorce rate because in such countries, people rarely get married in the first place. Heavily depending on cultural values and tax system with marriage, people start marriage and end it. In countries such as France, people who have romatic relationships or children tend to avoid marriage, thus, divorce rate has remained low.

In quite a few countries, divorce might involve economical difficulties. Because women can get a job with lower wages than men in almost all countries, wives tend to avoid divorce, being afraid of economical trouble. Single mothers are often produced after divoce and often they suffer from financial problems. Many national and local governments provide some kind of welfare system for them. See single mother for detail.

Divorce in some jurisdictions is relatively recent phenomenon. In Canada there was no divorce law until the 1960s. Before that the only way to get divorced was to apply to the Canadian Senate where a special committee would undertake an investigation of a request for a divorce and if they founded it was merited the marriage would be dissolved by an Act of Parliament.

Many countries in Europe, such as France prohibited divorce as it was not condoned by the Catholic church. Sometimes citizens would travel to other jurisdictions to obtain a divorce.

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