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No-Fault Revolution and Divorce Rate

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Definition

The no-fault divorce revolution is the phenomenon that, in the United States, has consisted in the gradual transition of the different American states from divorce by mutual consent or with fault to unilateral or no-fault divorce. This evolution of family law has led researchers in law and economics to ask the question of the neutrality of the law: Has the divorce rate increased because of this evolution?

Synonyms

No-fault divorce, No-fault revolution, Unilateral divorce

Introduction

The term “no-fault divorce revolution” comes from the United States. It originated in the debates that came about in the 1980s as one after another the various American states transitioned from at-fault divorce regimes to no-fault divorce regimes (about economic origins of no-fault divorce revolution; see Leeson and Pierson 2017). This change in American civil law stirred fierce conflict between the advocates of traditional family law and advocates of more progressive and feminist positions....

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Correspondence to Bruno Jeandidier .

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Jeandidier, B. (2022). No-Fault Revolution and Divorce Rate. In: Marciano, A., Ramello, G.B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Law and Economics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_678-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_678-2

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  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-7883-6

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    No-Fault Revolution and Divorce Rate
    Published:
    26 November 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_678-2

  2. Original

    No-Fault Revolution and Divorce Rate
    Published:
    21 August 2017

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7883-6_678-1