Does divorce have to be mutual?
Does divorce have to be mutual? Min Austria Assistant at Ascent Law LLC Divorce is a legal process by which a couple ends their marriage. In some cases, it's not just one spouse who wants out of the marriage. In fact, one party may be looking forward to divorce while the other doesn't want it to happen at all. This begs the question: can one spouse force his or her partner to stay married? In some jurisdictions, what's called "mutual consent divorce" is available. Here, both spouses file for divorce and agree that they want to end their marriage. These types of divorces are non-contentious and are typically granted quite easily; both parties agree to the divorce and there isn't much of a conflict between them. However, in most jurisdictions, you can only get divorced if your spouse agrees to grant you a divorce. This is called "unilateral divorce", or "fault-based divorce". Under unilateral divorce laws, a spouse may be able to obtain a div...