\[ **BT: [[kinship#kinship laws and customs]]** ] \[ **RT: [[marriage laws and customs]]** ] --- # divorce laws and customs [[Wealth and education are important contributory factors to marital stability.]][^1] - see also: [[marriage laws and customs]] ## contemporary divorce laws and customs [[People are more likely to leave a marriage when ‘the cost of leaving is low’ and ‘the benefits of staying are reduced’.]][^2] For example, [[In some societies, it is easier to divorce when a marriage has not produced offspring.|in Gambia, it is easier to divorce when a marriage has not produced offspring.]][^3] [[China's divorce rate took off in the early 2000s.]][^4] [[Young Chinese migrants may return to their village to marry, but they will rarely live in the house built for them by their parents. This means divorce now has to address a daughter-in-law’s claim to family assets she may never have used.]][^5] ### prenuptial agreements > [[On prenups. 'There is no absolute bulletproof vest in marriage. The only way forward is for a couple to show mutual understanding and sincerity.']][^6] ## divorce laws and customs throughout history [[Under Brehon law (i.e., prior to English rule), a woman in ancient Ireland could divorce her husband for ‘any number of reasons’.]][^7] [[In modern Ireland, divorce under any circumstance was illegal until 1995.]][^8] [^1]: Juan Du and Ruth Mace, ‘[[Du and Mace, ‘Marriage Stability in a Pastoralist Society’, 2019|Marriage Stability in a Pastoralist Society]]’, *Behavioural Ecology*, vol. 30, no. 6 (2019), p. 1567, <https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz115>. [^2]: Juan Du and Ruth Mace, ‘[[Du and Mace, ‘Marriage Stability in a Pastoralist Society’, 2019|Marriage Stability in a Pastoralist Society]]’, *Behavioural Ecology*, vol. 30, no. 6 (2019), p. 1567, <https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz115>. [^3]: Juan Du and Ruth Mace, ‘[[Du and Mace, ‘Marriage Stability in a Pastoralist Society’, 2019|Marriage Stability in a Pastoralist Society]]’, *Behavioural Ecology*, vol. 30, no. 6 (2019), p. 1567, <https://doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arz115>. [^4]: ‘[[The Economist, ‘The Flight from Marriage’, 2011|The Flight from Marriage]]’, *The Economist* (online), 20 August 2011, https://www.economist.com/briefing/2011/08/20/the-flight-from-marriage. [^5]: Deborah S. Davis, ‘[[Davis, ‘PRC Law and Institution of Marriage’, 2014|On the Limits of Personal Autonomy: PRC Law and Institution of Marriage]]’, in *Wives, Husbands, and Lovers: Marriage and Sexuality in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Urban China*, ed. Deborah S. Davis and Sarah L. Friedman (Stanford University Press, 2014), p. 44. [^6]: Eric Wu, in Zheng Yiwen (郑怡雯), ‘[[Zheng, ‘Before Forever’, 2024|Before Forever: The Rise of Prenuptial Agreements in China]]’, *The World of Chinese*, 10 April 2024, https://www.theworldofchinese.com/2024/04/before-forever-the-rise-of-prenuptial-agreements-in-china/. [^7]: Philip Carr-Gomm, *[[Carr-Gomm, Druid Mysteries, 2002|Druid Mysteries: Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century]]* (Rider, 2002), chapter 6. EPUB. [^8]: Philip Carr-Gomm, *[[Carr-Gomm, Druid Mysteries, 2002|Druid Mysteries: Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century]]* (Rider, 2002), chapter 6. EPUB.