Chapter 4 Review Sheet (Complete)
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Chapter 4 Review Sheet
1. What were the Catholic Church's views on marriage?
-Viewed marriage as indissoluble, like the bond between Christ and his church
-Divorce was prohibited but annulment was an option.
2. How did the Protestant view of marriage differ from that of the Catholic Church? What impact did this
have on divorce law?
-The Protestant view of marriage differed from the Catholic Church's in that Protestants accepted the
necessity of divorce in cases involving "grievous marital sins." This made divorce easier to come by and
more widely accepted.
3. What are the key fault grounds? What are the requirements for each one?
-The key fault grounds include adultery, desertion/abandonment, and cruelty
-Adultery must include an act of sexual intercourse by a married person with someone other than his or
her spouse
-Desertion/abandonment must include a voluntary separation, for the statutory period, with the intent
not to return, without consent, and without justification
-Cruelty must include repeated acts of severe physical or mental harm
4. What views do courts hold on the question of whether adultery can be defined to include extramarital
same-sex relationships?
-Most courts have found that adultery is not limited to heterosexual vaginal intercourse, but that
"...explicit extra-marital sexual activity constitutes adultery regardless of whether it is of a homosexual or
heterosexual character."
5. What are the key divorce defenses? What is the essence of each one?
-Connivance, condonation, recrimination, and collusion -To prove connivance, it must be proven that the
party seeking the divorce consented to adultery
-Condonation is based on forgiveness
-With recrimination, a defendant-spouse seeks to defeat divorce by showing that the plaintiff-spouse is
also guilty of marital wrongdoing
-Collusion involved an agreement by a couple to obtain a divorce and the deliberate crafting of a case for
presentation to the court
6. What criticism did the no-fault reformers level at fault-based divorce?
-Critics of fault-based divorce thought that collusion was indication that the fault model was not working
-They also thought that in noncollusive cases, the focus on fault increased the anger and hostility
between the parties
-Critics argued further that the fault model assumed that all marital breakups involved one good spouse
and one bad spouse which was detrimental
7. What is the difference between a pure no-fault and a dual system?
-System of divorce based on the breakdown of a marital relationship rather than on the marital fault of
one spouse, while the dual system is based on the grounds of marital breakdown (irreconcilable
differences) and living separate and apart
8. Explain the no-fault ground of marital breakdown.
-Known as proof of irreconcilable differences
-In order to prove irreconcilable differences, a judge must examine factors such as the degree to which
the parties are unable to relate to one another, the extent of any differences between them, prior efforts
to resolve their marital difficulties, and whether there is any hope of reconciliation
9. What kind of judicial inquiry is usually conducted in these hearings? How does this differ from the
vision of some reformers?
-Judges have a large amount of discretion in deciding whether a marriage is truly over
-This differs from the visions of some reformers in that reformers wanted to give judges more freedom to
deny a divorce if they believed there was any hope of reconciliation
10. Explain the no-fault ground of living separate and apart.
-A ground that requires the parties to have lived apart for a statutory period of time, with the separation
serving as proof of marital breakdown
*The time range for this ranges from 18 months to 3 years
11. What concerns have been raised about the availability of no-fault divorce? What reform measures
have been proposed?
-critics of no-fault divorce think that no-fault divorce contributes to a divorce culture that emphasizes
the pursuit of individual happiness and fulfillment over commitment to one's spouse and children
-these critics argue that divorce is too easy to get
-reform-proposals have been suggested with the goal of making no-fault divorces harder to obtain and
the Marriage Movement was born in 2000 with that same goal
12. What concerns have supporters of no-fault divorce raised about present efforts to reform or
eliminate no-fault divorce?
-supporters of no-fault divorce have raised concerns that eliminating no-fault divorce will make it harder
for women to leave abusive marriages
-these supporters think that making it harder to leave domestic abuse situations by eliminating no-fault
divorce will harm women and their safety
13. What is covenant marriage? What do its supporters hope to accomplish?
-covenant marriage law emphasizes the permanency of marriage and limits the availability of divorce
-supporters of covenant marriage hope that entrance into covenant marriage will cause couples to take
their marital commitments more seriously
14. What are some of the criticisms of covenant marriage?
- criticisms of covenant marriage include that it infuses the biblical conception of marriage into state law
which breaches the separation of church and state, committing oneself in advance to a course of action
may work to a spouse's detriment, as well as issues of coercion
15. What is an annulment, and how does it differ from a divorce?
-a retroactive declaration that no valid marriage ever existed between parties
-this differs from divorce in that divorce is premised on the existence of marriage and terminates the
marriage from the divorce date onward
16. What is the difference between a void marriage and one that is voidable?
-a void marriage is a marriage that is without any legal effect from its inception
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-a voidable marriage is a marriage that is considered valid unless and until it is declared invalid by a
decree of annulment
17. What is a legal separation? How does an action for separate maintenance differ from a legal
separation?
- a judicial decree permitting parties to live apart, usually for cause, without dissolving the legal
relationship of husband and wife while an action of separate maintenance is based on a request for
support rather than the reason for the separation
Assignment 2
Hello Mrs. Jane Doe, this is Nicholas Carlson Esq.,
I have been notified that you are unhappy with your marriage and are wanting to know your options
about handling this situation. Some options that are available to you are divorce, annulment, and legal
separation. A divorce or dissolution of marriage is a decree by a court that a valid marriage no longer
exists. It leaves both parties free to remarry. The court may divide property and order spousal support,
and, if children are involved, award custody and child support. In an annulment, a court finds that the
marriage was never valid in the first place. It will be like the marriage never existed, at least in a legal
sense. A legal separation is an arrangement in which a married couple lives apart but remains legally
married. It can be either mutually agreed upon or ordered by judicial decree. All of these are option you
could pursue in your situation.
For a divorce, all you need is to prove is that they no longer love you or can't live with you. The courts do
not want to force someone to be in a marriage they no longer want to be in. If your spouse files for a
divorce based on fault, you can dispute the reasons you are at fault. Still, this will not stop the divorce.
For an annulment, the requirements could be many things, such as if a spouse is impotent, the marriage
involved fraud, duress, or force, a spouse was not mentally capable of consenting to marriage, a spouse
concealed their divorce, or the marriage took place less then 72 hours after the spouse got their
marriage license.
Legal separation however is unavailable as an option in Texas.