Family LawDivorce |
What are “irreconcilable differences”? |
This is a widely used term and catch-all category in state codes to describe grounds for divorce where the parties simply cannot function as a marital unit any longer. For example, California law defines it as “those grounds which are determined by the court to be substantial reasons for not continuing the marriage and which make it appear that the marriage should be dissolved.” Maine uses the term “irreconcilable marital differences.”

About half of all marriage end in divorce in the United States for a number of reason, ranging from unfaithfulness to desertion, mental illness, drug addiction, and criminal behavior (iStock).