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The modern legal system is not a monolithic sculpture frozen in time, but a living pulsating organism that sharply reacts to changes in society’s mood and new trends. Progressive jurisprudence cannot remain aloof from manifestations of intolerance, social phobias, and discriminatory restrictions for citizens on any grounds, from racial to age, sex, and gender.
After all, the task of legislation is to provide conditions for the protection of equality. Lawyers today do not have a goal to hammer quotes from the Bill of Rights into everyone’s head, but there are more global tasks. Namely, to try to create the preconditions for a renewed culture of the interaction of elements in society and to come closer to realizing the concept of equal rights for all, no matter how utopian it may seem.
Unfortunately, today it is sometimes difficult for our society to get rid of some stereotypes and dogmas drawn from history related to models of human relationships. This is especially acute for the concepts of the rights of women and men in family law. It is rather strange that some people living in the third millennium continue to misinterpret the social roles of men and women and broadcast this false knowledge to all spheres of life on a hidden subconscious level.
Every legal norm can undoubtedly have its pitfalls and some clarifications written in small print in the modern world. While the law is designed to protect citizens’ rights and dignity, it is the citizens’ responsibility to know and assert their rights, suppressing any possible form of injustice. It so happens that this can happen even in the relationship of a married couple. We will try to focus on several important aspects of women’s rights in the context of divorce proceedings.
Application and filing for divorce
For married couples who have made a joint decision to dissolve their marriage and plan to file for divorce, it is important to understand that husband and wife are on equal footing in the eyes of the law. From the moment one of the spouses files for divorce, they become the applicant or petitioner. At the same time, the other spouse becomes the respondent. The specifics of divorce cases may differ, but the statuses of the parties to the proceedings remain unchanged. This definition leaves no room for discrimination based on gender. Couples who want to file for divorce can also do it online, you can read how to divorce online for more information.
Mother’s parental rights and child support law
The law is very clearly based upon the children’s rights rather than those of the parents. In broad terms, it is considered to be their right to have a relationship with both parents. However, there are some specific differences in the features of the law for the mother and father. For couples who have common kids born of the marriage, parental responsibilities give mothers and fathers the right to access information and make decisions on their behalf of the children, for example, about a child’s health and education.
At the same time, if the couple is not married, only the mother has automatic parental responsibility in all cases. It is often perceived that fathers do not really have any rights. It can sometimes be difficult for the courts to intervene effectively if the parent with whom the child is living is determined to resist any contact. But the courts can and do take steps, such as changing residence arrangements. They can even send a disobedient parent to prison if they willfully and repeatedly ignore the court’s order.
Adjudication of spousal support payments
When a married couple gets a divorce, the court may award alimony or spousal support to one of the former spouses, based either on an agreement between the couple or a decision by the court itself. This is separate from the division of marital property and is decided on a case-by-case basis. Alimony is different from child support payments because child support money can only be used for minor children while in the custodial parent’s care.
If one spouse cannot support themself after marriage, alimony may be awarded depending on the other spouse’s ability to pay. The court considers various factors, including the age, physical condition, emotional state, and financial condition of the former spouses, the need for education or training to become self-sufficient, the couple’s standard of living during the marriage, and the length of the marriage to award the payment.
Property division
In general, all property owned by either spouse is marital property. It includes all kinds of property, such as real estate, personal property, bank accounts, retirement accounts, etc. When dividing the divorcing couple’s joint property, the court generally splits the marital property in half in equal parts, with each spouse getting one half of the total property. At the same time, there are no concrete set of rules and regulations for the property division process.
The court can give one spouse more property than the other spouse if the court has an objectively good reason. Here are only some factors that are usually taken into account by the court when deciding such property division issues: the contribution of each spouse to the property; whether one spouse got the property before the marriage or by inheritance or gift; the economic circumstances of each spouse at the time of the divorce; whether the spouse who is getting custody of the children should stay in the marital home; the incomes and earning ability of each of the parties.
