Maria Shriver Personal life Is Maria married? She married Schwarzenegger on April 26, 1986, does she have children? They have four children: who are her children? Katherine Eunice (born 1989), Christina Maria Aurelia (born 1991), Patrick Arnold (born 1993), and Christopher Sargent Shriver (born 1997). what does her husband do for a living? Austrian bodybuilder and actor how long have they been married? April 26, 1986, did they ever divorce? Shriver filed for divorce on July 1, 2011. citing "irreconcilable differences".
what caused the filing of the divorce?
what caused the filing of Maria Shrivers and Schwarzenegger  divorce?
In 1977, Tom Brokaw introduced Maria to Austrian bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger at a charity tennis tournament being held at her mother's home. She married Schwarzenegger on April 26, 1986, in Hyannis, Massachusetts, at St. Frances Xavier Roman Catholic Church. They have four children: Katherine Eunice (born 1989), Christina Maria Aurelia (born 1991), Patrick Arnold (born 1993), and Christopher Sargent Shriver (born 1997). On May 9, 2011, Schwarzenegger and Shriver announced their separation after 25 years of marriage, with Shriver moving out of the couple's Brentwood mansion. In a message for her Twitter followers posted on May 13, 2011, Shriver said: "Thank you all for the kindness, support and compassion. I am humbled by the love. Thank you." On May 17, 2011, Schwarzenegger publicly admitted to fathering a child with a longtime member of their household staff, Mildred Patricia Baena, 14 years earlier, and before his election as Governor of California. He confessed to Shriver only after she confronted him with the information, having earlier confirmed what she had suspected about the child in a confrontation with Baena. Shriver described Schwarzenegger's admission as "painful and heartbreaking." She declined to speak further on the issue, saying: "As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal." Shriver filed for divorce on July 1, 2011. citing "irreconcilable differences". In 2013, Shriver began dating political consultant Matthew Dowd, the strategist for Arnold Schwarzenegger's 2006 reelection campaign. CANNOTANSWER
Schwarzenegger publicly admitted to fathering a child with a longtime member of their household staff, Mildred Patricia Baena,
Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955)
is an American journalist, author, member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She was married to former Governor of California and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, from whom she filed for divorce in 2011. Shriver has received a Peabody Award and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences award for developing a "television show with a conscience". Her mother, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, was a sister of John F., Robert and Ted Kennedy. Shriver is currently a "special" anchor and correspondent for NBC News.

Early life
Shriver was born in Chicago, Illinois, on November 6, 1955, the second child of the politician Sargent Shriver and activist Eunice Kennedy. She is a niece of the late U.S. President John F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, and six other prominent siblings. A Roman Catholic, she is of mostly Irish and German descent.

Shriver spent her middle school years living in Paris, France,  save for a brief period where Shriver's family temporarily moved to Chicago, Illinois in the summer of 1968 following Eunice Kennedy Shriver's work with the Special Olympics. 

Shriver permanently returned from France to Bethesda, Maryland, USA in 1970, where she attended Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart high school and graduated in 1973, later attending Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York for two years, then transferring into a Bachelor of Arts degree in American studies at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., graduating in June 1977.

Shriver is a fourth cousin of tennis player Pam Shriver. Shriver is also a cousin of Caroline Kennedy.

Career

Media career and advocacy
In her book Ten Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Went Out Into The Real World (2000), Shriver says that she became passionate about broadcast journalism after being sent to the back of the campaign plane with the press corps while volunteering for her father's 1972 U.S. vice presidential race, calling these orders "the best thing that ever happened to me". After her journalism career began with KYW-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, she co-anchored The CBS Morning News with Forrest Sawyer from August 1985 until August 1986, co-anchored NBC News's Sunday Today from 1987 until 1990. Shriver also served as Saturday anchor 1989 & Sunday 1990 of NBC Nightly News. She was a contributing anchor on Dateline NBC from 1992 until 2004. In August 2003, Shriver took an unpaid leave of absence from NBC News when her husband became a candidate in the 2003 California gubernatorial recall election.

Following her husband's November 17, 2003, inauguration as the 38th Governor of California, she became the First Lady of California. She then returned to reporting, making two more appearances for Dateline NBC.

On February 3, 2004, Shriver asked to be "relieved of [her] duties at NBC News," citing concerns the network had over the conflict of interest between her role as a journalist and her status as the First Lady of California and her increasing role as an advocate of her husband's administration.

She appeared as herself in the film Last Action Hero (1993). She also played a minor role as herself in "Be Prepared", a 2006 episode of the television series That's So Raven promoting a "Preparedness Plan". On March 23, 2007, Shriver returned to television news as substitute host of panel-discussion talk show Larry King Live on CNN with musician Sheryl Crow and other guests.

Shriver announced that she would not return to the news media after the excessive media coverage of the death of Anna Nicole Smith. Shriver subsequently returned to the news media.

In 2008, Shriver executive-produced American Idealist: The Story of Sargent Shriver. The documentary originally aired on PBS on January 21, 2008. The film chronicled the life, accomplishments and vision of her father, Sargent Shriver. Shriver also serves on the advisory board of the Sargent Shriver Peace Institute, which raises public awareness of her father's legacy as a peacebuilder and offers educational and training programs grounded in the principles of public service that motivate the many programs he created, including the Peace Corps, Job Corps, Head Start, and Legal Services for the Poor.

Shriver has been a lifelong advocate for people with intellectual disabilities. She is a member of the International Board of Special Olympics, the organization her mother founded in 1968. She is also on the advisory board of Best Buddies, a one-to-one friendship and jobs program for people with intellectual disabilities. In addition, Shriver serves as Chair of the Audi Best Buddies Challenge: Hearst Castle, a bike ride that raises millions of dollars for programs supporting people with intellectual disabilities. As First Lady, Shriver has been instrumental in the hiring of individuals with intellectual disabilities in the capitol and in various state offices through her WE Include program. In February 2008, Shriver launched an ice cream company called Lovin' Scoopful with her brother, Tim Shriver. Twenty-five percent of the proceeds from Lovin' Scoopful benefits the Special Olympics.

Shriver was the executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, a four-part documentary series that premiered on HBO in May 2009 and later earned two Emmy Awards. It was described by the Los Angeles Times as "ambitious, disturbing, emotionally fraught and carefully optimistic". The series took a close look at cutting-edge research being done in the country's leading Alzheimer's laboratories. The documentary also examined the effects of this disease on patients and families. One of the Emmy Award-winning films, Grandpa, Do you Know Who I Am? is based on Shriver's best-selling children's book dealing with Alzheimer's.

In 2016, Shriver published the coloring book Color Your Mind, a coloring book for people with Alzheimer's.

In 2018, she published I've Been Thinking...: Reflections Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life, which became an instant No. 1 New York Times bestseller. Shriver released a companion journal, I've Been Thinking...The Journal: Reflections, Prayers and Inspirations for Your Meaningful Life, in January 2019.

Shriver and her daughter, Christina Schwarzenegger, were co-executive producers of Take Your Pills (2018), an hour-long documentary on psychostimulant medications.

The Shriver Report 
In October 2009, Shriver launched "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything," a national study and comprehensive report conducted in partnership with the Center for American Progress, USC's Annenberg Center on Communication, Leadership and Policy, and the Rockefeller Foundation. The Shriver Report revealed that American women, for the first time, make up half of the United States workforce and studied how that fact is impacting major institutions like family, business, government and faith organizations. The report was released in 2013 in partnership with TIME and NBC News. According to The New York Times, the report "was modeled on a study undertaken almost 50 years ago during the administration of John F. Kennedy, Shriver's uncle, and led by Eleanor Roosevelt." The report features, among other things, writings by public figures including Suze Orman, Beyoncé, Tammy Duckworth, Billie Jean King, Heidi Hartmann, Susan J. Douglas, Stephanie Coontz, Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, John Podesta, and Oprah Winfrey.

In 2010 The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Takes on Alzheimer's was published. It is a study by Maria Shriver and the Alzheimer's Association. It features, among other things, writings by public figures including Barbra Streisand, Laura Bush, Patti Davis, Soleil Moon Frye, Rosalynn Carter, Susan Collins, Kathleen Sebelius, Barbara Mikulski, and Joe Biden.

In 2014, The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Pushes Back from the Brink was published; it is about women and their children in poverty. It is by Maria Shriver, with editors Olivia Morgan, and Karen Skelton, and features, among other things, writings by public figures including Carol Gilligan, Beyoncé, Joan Chittister, Ai-Jen Poo, Eva Longoria, Stephanie Coontz, Jennifer Garner, Kathleen Sebelius, Jada Pinkett Smith, Anne-Marie Slaughter, Tory Burch, Sheryl Sandberg, Kirsten Gillibrand, Barbara Ehrenreich, LeBron James, and Hillary Clinton.

First Lady of California
After Arnold took office, Shriver took on several key initiatives as First Lady, which included raising awareness of the contributions of women to the state, working on practical solutions to end cycles of poverty, and encouraging all Californians to engage in acts of service to their communities. Once Schwarzenegger was elected, Shriver had to cut back on her news reporting to avoid conflicts of interest.

Shriver began leading the California Governor & First Lady's Conference on Women when Schwarzenegger took office in 2003. Under her leadership, The Women's Conference event grew into the nation's premier forum for women and, in 2010, attracted more than 30,000 attendees and 150 world opinion leaders over three full days. Each year, the event is held at the Long Beach Convention Center in October. Luminaries have spoken at the conference including Oprah Winfrey, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Sandra Day O'Connor, U.S. Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Madeleine Albright, Barbara Walters, Warren Buffett, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Richard Branson, Bono, Billie Jean King, Gloria Steinem, and the Dalai Lama.

In 2004, Shriver created The Minerva Awards to honor and reward "remarkable California women" who have changed their communities, their state, their country and the world with their courage, wisdom and strength. The Minerva Awards are named after Minerva, the Roman goddess who adorns the California State Seal and "who symbolizes the dual nature of women as warriors and peacemakers". The Minerva Awards are presented annually at The Women's Conference in Long Beach during a special ceremony. Recipients of the award also receive a grant to continue their work. Past Minerva Awards recipients include former first lady Betty Ford, Nancy Pelosi, Gloria Steinem, Billie Jean King, astronaut Sally Ride and the late Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Shriver's mother. The achievements of The Minerva Award winners are chronicled in a permanent exhibit at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento and have become part of California's official state archive.

In 2004, Shriver was in attendance at both the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention, attending the first to watch her uncle Ted Kennedy speak, and the latter to watch her husband speak.

In 2005, Shriver launched her WE Connect Program, which connects working families in need with money-saving programs and support services. WE Connect brings together community organizations and businesses, government agencies and state leaders, congregations and schools as partners in responding to the needs of the millions of individuals and families who are struggling to make ends meet. Through a partnership with La Opinion, the nation's largest Spanish-language newspaper, WE Connect has developed three editions of a 24-page, full-color, bilingual supplement that has been circulated to over 20 million Californians in need. In December 2009, Shriver, in partnership with The Women's Conference, created the WE Connect–Million Meals Initiative. Through this initiative, The Women's Conference made a donation to The California Association of Food Banks to provide more than one million meals to California families in need. The donation was allocated to the food bank's 44 member organizations who then distributed the food to California families through its more than 5,000 community-based organizations. In March 2010, Shriver held a three-day Community Resources Fair in Fresno and Los Angeles through WE Connect. The fairs provided vital programs and free support services such as tax preparation, housing and home foreclosure assistance, job assistance, flu shots, healthy food distribution and more. Event organizers estimated that over 40,000 individuals took advantage of free services during the course of the two weekends, and hundreds of thousands pounds of food were distributed.

As First Lady, Shriver worked to promote service and volunteerism. As Honorary Chair of CaliforniaVolunteers, Shriver conceived of and launched the largest statewide volunteer matching network at CaliforniaVolunteers.org. Shriver was instrumental in inspiring Governor Schwarzenegger to establish the nation's first state cabinet-level Department of Service and Volunteering. She also pioneered and promoted a statewide disaster preparedness program called WE Prepare that encourages and educates Californians to be ready for an emergency or natural disaster. In addition, Shriver established WE Build and WE Garden, a children's playground and community garden-building initiative. “Try growing Tomatoes, I’ beans don't grow,” she exclaimed.  Through CaliforniaVolunteers, Shriver has built 31 playgrounds with gardens in lower-income communities around the state in partnership with KaBOOM!.

In 2008, Shriver launched her WE Invest Program, which provides training, mentoring, support networks, microloans and other resources to help women launch or grow their businesses. In June 2009, she expanded WE Invest nationally through a partnership with Kiva, creating the first-ever online peer-to-peer microlending program in the U.S. Shriver is credited with coming up with the idea to bring Kiva's international micro-lending model to the United States.

Shriver is Co-Chair of The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts and she has been credited with revitalizing the state museum during her tenure. Shriver created the California Hall of Fame in 2006 at the Museum to honor legendary Californians such as Cesar Chavez, Clint Eastwood, Walt Disney, Amelia Earhart, Ronald Reagan, John Steinbeck, Rita Moreno, Earl Warren, Julia Morgan, Leland Stanford, Dorothea Lange and others. In November 2008, Shriver launched the California Legacy Trails, a first-of-its-kind web-based multimedia learning tool designed to help students learn California history.

On February 3, 2008, Shriver endorsed Senator Barack Obama for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. The endorsement was given at a UCLA rally featuring Caroline Kennedy (Shriver's cousin), Oprah Winfrey, Stevie Wonder, and Obama's wife Michelle Obama. Governor Schwarzenegger had endorsed Senator John McCain for the Republican presidential nomination a few days earlier on January 31, 2008. Later that year, as in 2004, Shriver was in attendance at the Democratic National Convention when her uncle Ted Kennedy spoke.

In May 2009, Shriver planted the first edible garden at a state capitol in what once was a flower bed. She teamed up with Alice Waters on the project. The food grown in the organic garden is distributed to local food banks. Shriver has been an advocate for edible gardens and chairs the California School Garden Network that has doubled the number of gardens in state schools from 3,000 to 6,000 since 2004.

Return to NBC News
On April 30, 2013, NBC announced that Shriver would join the network again as a special anchor working on issues surrounding the shifting roles of women in American life.

On October 18, 2013, Shriver returned to the anchor desk on Today, filling-in for Savannah Guthrie for the first time since 1998 as co-anchor with Matt Lauer.

Career timeline
 1978–1985: KYW-TV anchor
 1985–1986: The CBS Morning News co-anchor
 1986–2004: NBC News
 1987–1990: Sunday Today co-anchor
 1989 NBC Nightly News Saturday anchor–1990: Sunday anchor
 1992–2004: Dateline NBC contributing anchor & correspondent
 2003–2011: First Lady of California
 2013–present: NBC News
 2013–present: Special Anchor
 2013–2015: Dateline NBC correspondent
 2013–present: Today substitute co-anchor
 2019–present: Hoda & Jenna substitute co-anchor

Personal life

In 1977, Tom Brokaw introduced Maria to Austrian bodybuilder and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger at a charity tennis tournament being held at her mother's home. She married Schwarzenegger on April 26, 1986, in Hyannis, Massachusetts, at St. Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church. They have four children: Katherine (born December 13, 1989), Christina (born July 23, 1991), Patrick (born September 18, 1993), and Christopher (born September 27, 1997); all were born in Los Angeles. 

On May 9, 2011, Schwarzenegger and Shriver announced their separation after 25 years of marriage, and Shriver moved out of the couple's Brentwood mansion. In a message for her Twitter followers posted on May 13, 2011, Shriver said: "Thank you all for the kindness, support and compassion. I am humbled by the love. Thank you."

On May 17, 2011, Schwarzenegger publicly admitted to fathering a child with a longtime member of their household staff, Mildred Patricia Baena, 14 years earlier, and before his election as Governor of California. He confessed to Shriver only after she confronted him with the information, having earlier confirmed what she had suspected about the child in a confrontation with Baena. Shriver described Schwarzenegger's admission as "painful and heartbreaking". She declined to speak further on the issue, saying: "As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal." Shriver filed for divorce on July 1, 2011, citing "irreconcilable differences".The divorce was finalized in December 2021.

In 2013 it was reported that Matthew Dowd was in a relationship with Shriver Shriver confirmed she was single in May 2017.

In an interview with the Commonwealth Club of California in 2018, Shriver revealed that she had changed her registration from Democrat to independent, stating that there are good people and bad people in both parties.

Honors
As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of Television Arts & Sciences award for developing a "television show with a conscience". She has additionally won Peabody Awards for her television journalism.

In 2009, Shriver was honored with the Shinnyo-en Foundation's 2009 Pathfinders to Peace Award, which is bestowed annually to a person who exemplifies the ideals of compassion, harmony and peace. At the presentation ceremony honoring Shriver, the foundation's chief executive said, "Maria Shriver sees the best in other people – their innate goodness – and inspires them to become their own 'Architects of Change'. In a world that glorifies ambition at any cost, Maria instead teaches character. She is a woman of quiet strength who role-models kindness and charity, and has used her celebrity to help create peace in the world."

The Saint John's Health Center has a nursery named after Shriver.

A hybrid rose was named after Shriver in October 2004. The Maria Shriver rose contains starchy-white blooms and a powerful citrus fragrance. 

In 2017, the Alzheimer's Association awarded Shriver with its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award.

Books

See also

 Kennedy family

References

External links

 
 A Woman's Nation
 The Shriver Report
 
 
 

20th-century American women writers
20th-century American writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American women writers
Alzheimer's disease activists
Disability rights activists from the United States
American health activists
American children's writers
American feminists
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
American self-help writers
American television news anchors
American television reporters and correspondents
American women children's writers
American women television journalists
California Democrats
Catholics from Illinois
Catholics from Maryland
CBS News people
First Ladies and Gentlemen of California
Georgetown University alumni
Illinois Democrats
Journalists from Illinois
Kennedy family
Living people
Manhattanville College alumni
NBC News
News & Documentary Emmy Award winners
Peabody Award winners
People from Bethesda, Maryland
People from Brentwood, Los Angeles
People from Potomac, Maryland
Roman Catholic writers
Schools of the Sacred Heart alumni
Schwarzenegger family
Shriver family
Westland Middle School alumni
Writers from Chicago
Writers from Los Angeles
Writers from Maryland
1955 births
Grounds for divorce are regulations specifying the circumstances under which a person will be granted a divorce. Each state in the United States has its own set of grounds. A person must state the reason they want a divorce at a divorce trial and be able to prove that this reason is well-founded.
Several states require that the couple must live apart for several months before being granted a divorce. However, living apart is not accepted as grounds for a divorce in many states.

In the United States married couples are allowed to end a marriage by filing for a divorce on the grounds of either fault or no fault. In the past, most states only granted divorces on fault grounds, but today all states have adopted a form of no fault divorce. Fault and no-fault divorces each require that specific grounds be met.  A no fault divorce can be granted on grounds such as irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, irreconcilable differences, incompatibility, or after a period of separation, depending on the state. Neither party is held responsible for the failure of the marriage. On the other hand, in fault divorces one party is asking for a divorce because they claim the other party did something wrong that justifies ending the marriage. Several grounds for fault divorce include adultery, cruelty, abandonment, mental illness, and criminal conviction.
There are, however, additional grounds that are acceptable in some states such as drug abuse, impotency, and religious reasons.

While there are various grounds for divorce across the United States, there are also defenses that can be raised in response to many divorce claims.
These defenses include insufficiency of evidence that the spouse in fact engaged in the conduct cited (or, more strongly, the presence of affirmative evidence to the contrary), acceptance of the alleged conduct at the time when it was engaged in ("condonation"), the complaining party's having engaged in similar conduct of his/her own ("recrimination"), and absence of or insufficiency of evidence proving other conditions invoked as grounds (e.g., insufficient length of separation or presence of a chance of reconciliation).

History 
Divorce laws have changed a great deal over the last few centuries. Many of the grounds for divorce available in the United States today are rooted in the policies instated by early British rule.
Following the American Colonies' independence, each settlement generally determined its own acceptable grounds for divorce. During colonial times, grounds for divorce were  more limited in scope, both in terms of which grievances could qualify as grounds and in terms of who was able to use them.
In the 18th century, such concerns as infidelity, alcohol abuse, mistreatment, abandonment, and impotence were among the few reasons that could qualify as grounds for divorce. For much of America's history, wealthy men were the people most able to seek and to receive a desired split. By the 1960s, however, women and citizens of fewer means found the conditions for seeking divorce more accessible. At this time, the law required that one partner be at-fault in order for the couple to pursue the termination of their marriage.
This constraint arose out of the desire to ensure that all of the bases for divorce be adequate. Prior to this, people used such issues as incompatibility or a decline in lucidity as grounds; the court eventually came to see these problems as not severe enough to warrant divorce, however. In the 1970s, no-fault grounds gained favor in many states, and in 2010, New York became one of the last of the fifty states to allow no-fault divorces even in cases where there was no mutual consent to the divorce. The other states still requiring mutual consent for no-fault divorce are Tennessee (except where there are no minor children and the couple have lived apart for two years), Mississippi, and South Dakota.

No-fault divorce 

Every state in the United States allows the acquisition of no-fault divorce.
When the marriage partners mutually agree that they no longer feel the marriage is worth continuing, a no-fault divorce will allow the couple to obtain a divorce easily.
In order to obtain a no-fault divorce in only Tennessee, Mississippi, and South Dakota, the parties must mutually consent to provide information regarding incompatibility or why the marriage partners have changed, grown apart, or have irreconcilable differences. Otherwise, in the rest of the country, only one party has to file for irreconcilable differences, and any excuse will do. If a state requires a separation period, either or both spouses may be required to bring a witness to testify that the parties have been living apart for the required amount of time.

Separation  
Marriage partners who are living apart have grounds for no-fault divorce.
Like Louisiana, various states have statutes requiring the parties to live apart from one another for a certain predetermined period of time. The reason the time limitation exists is to see if the couple can reconcile. For example, differing from Louisiana, Pennsylvania state law does not permit legal separation.

Irretrievable breakdown 
In the United States, several states allow spouses to divorce if they are no longer willing to live with one another.
 However, some states  use different terminologies for a marriage that breaks down. The cause of the breakdown is legally termed as "irreconcilable differences" or "incompatible of temperament." This breakdown occurs through no fault of the spouses, without blame to one another, and commonly represents grounds for divorce. Regardless of the terminology used, all states fundamentally allow parties to divorce if the marriage breaks down and the couple agrees that the marriage will not work.  In order to attain a divorce on grounds that the marriage is over, the couple is required to prepare an affidavit that the marriage is irreparably broken and sign it under oath. An alternative to a sworn statement is to agree in writing that the marriage is broken beyond repair.

State acceptance 
Every state within the United States accepts some form of no-fault divorce. This option is more common than a fault divorce as it can be more convenient and less expensive. Many believe that a no-fault divorce also causes less strain on a family with children than a fault divorce. By law, one member from the party must acknowledge that the marriage is beyond repair.

Shift of acceptance 
When California first enacted divorce laws in 1850, the only grounds for divorce were impotence, extreme cruelty, desertion, neglect, habitual intemperance, fraud, adultery, or conviction of a felony.  In 1969-1970, California became the first state to pass a purely no-fault divorce law, i.e., one which did not offer any fault divorce grounds. They chose to terminate all fault grounds for divorce and utilized single no-fault standards making divorce easier and less costly. During the next 15 years no-fault divorce became more common in various states throughout the United States. Some states offer both fault and no-fault options. However, the states that do not carry both options have only the one option of no-fault grounds.

Some marriages do not last very long and early on spouses can begin to assess their marital situation. When a couple decides to critique their marriage, the spouse is determining if it would be reasonable to stay in the union. If one decides to file a divorce, a no-fault divorce should be taken into consideration.

Advantages and disadvantages 

Multiple surveys have been given to the American people requesting their opinions regarding no-fault divorce. The surveys revealed that 50% of Americans are disappointed with no-fault divorce and would like alterations to the system to make no-fault divorce more difficult. A no-fault divorce is much easier to obtain than a fault divorce. They save time and money plus neither party has to provide evidence. A no-fault divorce also allows the divorcing parties to have privacy, which can allow them to work with each other during the difficult time.

Even though a fault divorce is more time-consuming, and could even be more likely to violate the parties' privacy, a fault divorce might need to be considered. For example, when the party is going through a fault divorce trial the husband/wife might be convicted of being an unfit parent, which will require evidence so the spouse can be found guilty of abuse.

Fault divorce 
A fault divorce is a divorce which is granted after the party asking for the divorce sufficiently proves that the other party did something wrong that justifies ending the marriage. For example, in Texas, grounds for an "at-fault" divorce include cruelty, adultery, a felony conviction, abandonment, living apart, and commitment in a mental institution. The party filing for the divorce must prove that the other party has done something to justify ending the union. Different states have different requirements for obtaining a fault divorce but in each state the spouse filing for the divorce is required to establish a reason for the divorce and provide evidence of the other party’s guilt. The specific grounds for receiving a fault divorce include adultery, impotency, infertility or homosexuality (for heterosexual married couples) of the other party that was not discussed before the union; criminal conviction of a felony or imprisonment of one party for a certain length of time; abandonment or desertion, cruelty, or mental instability of one of the parties.

Divorce courts require proof be given that the grounds actually exist. This can be accomplished by providing testimony from a hired detective with documentation of the spouse's bad behavior or from someone who witnessed or has first-hand knowledge of the spouse's bad behavior. There are defenses a spouse can use to convince the court that he or she is not at fault in order to have the grounds dismissed and possibly prevent a fault divorce. These defenses include collusion, condonation, connivance, and provocation.

Fault divorces are becoming less common today because every state now recognizes no-fault divorces.  No-fault divorces are more common since no proof of fault is required. They are not as costly, can be completed faster, and can be less stressful on the family members. However, fault divorces are advantageous if a quick divorce is desirable. This type of divorce is granted quickly without the waiting period of no-fault divorces where parties are ordered to live apart for a specific amount of time before the divorce is finalized. Another benefit of a fault divorce is the monetary gain. Proof of the accused party's wrongdoing may result in the court granting the filing spouse a larger portion of the marital property or increased support and alimony. However, fault divorces are considerably more expensive to obtain than no-fault divorces.

The most common fault grounds include the following:

Adultery 
Sexual activities with a person of the opposite sex as well as the same sex involving oral sex and other sexual behavior not necessarily including intercourse constitute adultery. In order to use adultery as grounds for a divorce, the filing party must present sufficient proof that the other party had sexual relations with a third party. Circumstantial as well as documented evidence, including videotapes of the spouse committing the sexual infidelity, can be used as proof of adultery. In addition to this evidence, the accusing partner must prove that the other partner had the opportunity and inclination to commit adultery.

Cruelty 
Proof of cruelty or the repeated infliction of serious physical or mental suffering by one marital partner on the other is also grounds for divorce.
To obtain a divorce on the grounds of cruelty, the filing spouse must prove that the cruelty has made marriage intolerable for them. The cruelty must have been deliberate and calculated and must not have been provoked by the filing spouse. Acts such as physical attacks, repeated displays of rage involving screaming and violent behavior, as well as continuous false accusations, such as adultery and publicly berating and insulting a spouse or flaunting an affair with another person are some grounds of cruelty. The cruelty must have been recurrent. Single acts of cruelty in a marriage are usually not considered grounds for divorce.

Abandonment or desertion 
Leaving the household with the consent of the filing spouse or for reasons consistent with the ongoing existence of a positive relationship, such as completing military service or employment assignments as required by law or to help provide for the family, do not constitute abandonment or desertion. However, refusing to have sexual relations with a spouse can be considered abandonment in some incidences. To obtain a divorce on grounds of abandonment the accused spouse must have voluntarily deserted the marital household with no justification or intention to return. The deserter must have left without the consent of the filing party and remained absent for an uninterrupted period of time.
However, a spouse who is unjustly forced from the marital household by the other spouse or leaves to escape domestic violence would not be at fault of abandonment or desertion.  In fact, in these cases, the spouse who remains at the home may be charged with "constructive desertion", if their behavior justifies the charge or if that spouse refuses a sincere offer of reconciliation.

Mental illness  
Permanent mental illness and incurable insanity is a ground for divorce. To obtain a divorce on grounds of mental illness, the filing spouse must have proof that the other spouse suffers from a permanent psychological disorder that makes marriage impossible. The disorder must be incurable and the spouse must have been diagnosed by doctors competent in psychiatry.

Criminal conviction 
The criminal conviction and imprisonment of a spouse is often considered grounds for a divorce.
To obtain a divorce on grounds of criminal conviction, the filing spouse must be able to prove that their spouse has been convicted of an illegal offense.
In many cases, it is required that the convicted spouse has been sentenced to serve time in prison in order for a divorce to be granted on the grounds of criminal conviction.

Other grounds 
Other grounds for divorce may include alcohol or substance abuse and impotency, infertility or homosexuality (for heterosexual married couples) of the other party that was not discussed before the union.  Strictly speaking, some jurisdictions may interpret the failure to disclose such conditions in advance as actual or constructive fraud that renders the marriage void, or at least voidable unless and until accepted by the other party once s/he learns of the condition(s), and thus serves as grounds for an annulment rather than for dissolution of a theretofore-valid marriage.

Culture, religion, and disease 
Several macro-level contexts also serve as reasons behind the decision to seek a divorce.
These circumstances represent various aspects of the social life, from technology and social integration, to the economy and military service.
Cultural customs or religious establishments can be the foundations for the breakdown of a marriage, as well.

Marrying someone of another religion, ethnicity, or vastly different culture could potentially pave the way for divorce.
One partner might find himself unable to handle the societal pressures of the arrangement, or may feel compelled to conform to the spouse's/other culture's ideals (e.g. child rearing, dietary changes, etc.), which could lead to resentment. In New Hampshire, if a spouse's other half joins a religious sect, and that act leads to the destruction of the marriage, then the objecting partner can cite the episode as grounds for divorce; this is one of several grounds categorized unusual. Illinois also offers uncommon grounds for divorce, whereby a person can apply for divorce when her spouse exposes her to a sexually transmitted infection.

Divorce is not a possibility for the devotees of certain religious organizations. The Catholic Church, for example, does not permit its adherents to remarry after a divorce unless the marriage has been annulled. They also strongly discourage any legal divorce. Marriage annulments, however, are the current option for the followers of Catholicism to dissolve the official ties to their former significant other. The annulment, which renders a marriage null and void, can be sought on the bases of “adultery, pressure to marry, failure to consummate a marriage through vaginal intercourse, or a refusal to have children,” among other reasons. The Catholic Church considers couples that are divorced but have not been granted an annulment to still have a sacred bond of marriage even if legally divorced.

Substance abuse 
Another of the many issues that could lead to a couple's divorce is substance abuse. There is a noted correlation between domestic violence and instances of excessive alcohol consumption and narcotic misuse. Since extreme mistreatment of one's spouse is a serious concern, the law considers it legitimate grounds for divorce; the same holds true in cases where a member of the couple feels uncomfortable with the other's overuse of controlled substances.

Financial backing 
A common reason cited as grounds for divorce is one spouse's unwillingness to support the other financially even though he or she has the economic means to do so. Part of the concept of marriage is its role of joining people; when two individuals come together in a marital union, the sharing of resources is one of many expected outcomes. If someone in the marriage intentionally and maliciously refuses to uphold this communal monetary expectation, then the other person can file for divorce in response.

Sexual issues 
Sexual incompatibility may be another cause for divorce. In a number of states, another intimacy related matter—impotency—can also function as grounds for divorce.  If a spouse is unable to perform the act of sex with his or her companion, the other member of the couple is within his or her rights to file for divorce. To serve as valid grounds, the partner's inability to perform intercourse must have been present at the outset of the marriage, and had to have lasted through the start of the divorce proceedings; i.e. the couple must not have consummated the relationship in order to use impotency as a  justification for divorce.

Defenses

The accused was not at fault 
In some cases a spouse can prevent a fault divorce by convincing the court that he or she is not at fault. There are four types of defenses that are commonly used to prevent a fault divorce. The first defense, condonation, is used as a defense when the accusing spouse claims that the filing spouse has actually forgiven or accepted the wrongful behavior of their spouse prior to filing the charges and has in fact continued to have relations with them. Likewise, reconciliation, like condonation, is used by the accused spouse to prevent a fault divorce when they can prove that the filing spouse has forgiven them and reconciliation has occurred. Recrimination occurs when the spouse being accused of wrongdoing attempts to stop the divorce process by claiming that the other spouse is guilty of bad behavior themselves. Lastly, provocation is used when the spouse accused of abandoning the marriage defends the suit on the ground that the filing spouse provoked the abandonment.

Possible reconciliation 
In a fault divorce, reconciliation and condonation share similarities. If either the husband or wife decides that forgiveness is given, a defense for fault cannot be obtained. As an example, in the case of abandonment, the divorce can't be based on abandonment because one of the spouses forgives on that issue.  The couple would have to find another ground for divorce.

Insufficient separation 
Under the no-fault grounds of separation for a pre-determined duration, the half of the couple who does not desire a divorce has only one recourse in contesting the break-up.  If the span of the spouses’ separation does not last at least as long as was originally decided, then the dissenting person has a suitable defense to challenge the divorce.  In the event of a couple's short-lived reunion or further sexual relations, the court can argue that the pair did not adhere to the time requirements of their separation agreement, and the divorce petition can be invalidated.

References 

Divorce law in the United States Head of Household is a filing status for individual United States taxpayers.

To use the Head of Household filing status, a taxpayer must:

 Be unmarried or considered unmarried at the end of the year.
 Have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the tax year (either one's own home or the home of a qualifying parent).
 Usually have a qualifying person who lived with the head in the home for more than half of the tax year unless the qualifying person is a dependent parent.

Advantages

The taxpayer using the Head of Household filing status is entitled to use the Head of Household tax rates, which feature wider tax brackets. Also, the taxpayer is entitled to a larger standard deduction ($18,000 for tax year 2018) than taxpayers using Single or Married Filing Separately ($12,000 for 2018).

Considered unmarried

A person who is married on the last day of the tax year generally must use either the Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately filing status. The exception is a taxpayer who is considered unmarried for Head of Household filing purposes and actually qualifies as Head of Household.

To be considered unmarried, a taxpayer must meet all the following tests:

 The taxpayer must file a separate return.
 The taxpayer paid more than half the cost of keeping up the home for the tax year.
 The taxpayer's spouse must not have lived in the home at any time during the last six months of the year.
 The taxpayer's home was the main home of his or her child, stepchild, or foster child for more than half the year.
 The taxpayer must be able to claim an exemption for the child. However, this test is still met if the only reason that the taxpayer cannot claim the child's exemption is that the noncustodial parent is claiming the exemption (under a written release of exemption or a pre-1985 decree of divorce, decree of separate maintenance, or written separation agreement).

A taxpayer may also be considered unmarried for head of household purposes if the spouse is a nonresident alien, and the taxpayer does not elect to treat the spouse as a resident alien. In that case, the taxpayer is still considered married for purposes of the earned income credit.

Keeping up a home

To qualify for Head of Household filing status, the taxpayer must have paid more than half the cost of keeping up a home for the year. Costs to consider include property taxes, mortgage interest, rent, utilities, repairs and maintenance, insurance, and food eaten in the home.  Costs such as education, clothing, vacation, and transportation are not included in the cost of keeping up the   homes.

Qualifying person

The following table determines who is a qualifying person for Head of Household filing status:

(1) Qualifying Child MUST meet all the tests. For Example a 25-year-old full-time student does not qualify as a child but may qualify as a Qualifying Relative if the tests are met. See Table 5 Pub 501 (2012). In this case you could not file as HOH. If the tests are met you could file as single or married filing separately and claim an exemption for the non qualified child.

Qualifying relatives

Other than a father or mother, the following types of relationships may qualify a dependent as a qualifying person for head of household purposes:

 Child, stepchild, foster child, or a descendant of any of them. (A legally adopted child is considered a child.)
 Brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, stepbrother, stepsister.
 Grandparent or direct ancestor but not foster parent.
 Stepfather or stepmother.
 Son or daughter of the taxpayer's brother or sister.
 Brother or sister of the taxpayer's father or mother.
 Son-in-law, daughter-in-law, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, or sister-in-law.

Any of these relationships that was established by marriage is not ended by death or divorce.

Special rule for parents

If the qualifying person is the taxpayer's father or mother, the taxpayer may file as Head of Household even if the father or mother does not live with the taxpayer. However, the taxpayer must be able to claim the exemption for the father or mother. Also, the taxpayer must pay more than half the cost of keeping up a home that was the main home for the entire year for the father or mother. The taxpayer is considered keeping up the father or mother's main home by paying more than half the cost of keeping the parent in a rest home for the elderly.

Impact on Taxpayers

The Head of Household filing status was designed in 1951 to acknowledge the financial burdens carried by single parents.  It provides single-parent households with an increased deduction and a preferential tax rate, effectively treating a head of household as a filer and a half. 

As of 2015, according to the Census Population Survey, 76% of head of household filers were women.

References 

Taxation in the United States
Tax terms