The Future of Children

Over the past 30 years, the legal status of husbands and wives in marriage has undergone major changes with the result that wives are now beginning to have more of an independent legal identity than in the past and, to some extent, more of an equal relationship with their husbands although full equality has not yet been achieved. At the same time, divorce laws and policies have consistently moved toward a view of marriage as an economic partnership and away from the concept of marriage as a status totally regulated by the state and dominated by the husband. This trend has produced significant changes in the statutes, which have, to a certain extent, limited judicial discretion regulating the assignment of marital property and the awarding of alimony upon divorce. These changes have given more consideration to the contribution of wives to the marital enterprise and to the financial needs of children. In addition, recently there has been a movement toward legislating how couples divorce, particularly with regard to their ability—with or without the assistance of counsel—to conclude their divorce with minimal official action. This article explores the trends toward the equality and legal autonomy of husbands and wives in marriage and in the divorce process with particular emphasis on methods of allocating marital property and on new and simplified procedures for divorce. American divorce laws and the process by which they are implemented have undergone enormous changes during the past half century. The reasons for these changes are complex but essentially have a great deal to do with changes in the nature, idea, and definition of family relationships—especially that of husband and wife— changes in the social mores, shifts in the political climate as a result of the impact of various of the civil rights movements, and changes in the legal profession. Some laws that have changed regarding the process of divorce are mentioned below. Many of the topics that are discussed in this article also receive more in-depth attention in various articles throughout this journal issue. (A topic that is not addressed below is changes in child custody laws. For a complete discussion of this topic, see the article by Kelly in this journal issue.) The Future of Children CHILDREN AND DIVORCE Vol. 4 • No. 1 – Spring 1994