The Equality Of Women And Men - 2399 Words

Historically, married women had very limited rights of their own. When a couple married they where to be seen as one unity of which the husband took all control. The serotype used to be that the wife should be a ‘home maker’ thus keeping the family home and looking after the children, whilst the husband should be the ‘bread winner’ who went to earn a living to keep and provide for his family. As times have changed and social views and morals have developed considerably and marriage has undergone gradual legal change primarily aimed at improving rights for women. In this day and age women have considerably more social freedom as well as more job openings and career opportunities than in the past. The equality of women and men is now†¦show more content†¦Thus, the court has very wide discretion when establishing who gets what. In comparison, the laws are very general and merely provide a list of what should be taken into account which are incorporated into s.25 The Matrimonial Causes Act (MCA) 1973 . Arguably, on the breakdown of marriage parties should be treated equally as a basic aspect of justice . Prior to such legislation, husbands were under a common law duty to support their wives. Under the common law, the wife is under this husbands control and at law they are seen as one person. Common law however did not provide any support for wives and offered no financial relief. In the mid 1800’s divorce became much wider spread and the courts had the power to divorce, however this was fault-based divorce, which is looked upon as unfair and unequal. The Family Law Act (FLA) 1996 primary objectives were to introduce a system of no-fault divorce. Today, courts look a number of factors including the parties standards of livings, their income an their need and thus, moving towards a checklist idea. On the breakdown of a marriage, couples are encouraged to attend a Mediation Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM) in order to co me to an agreement between themselves about how is best to divide their assets. In some cases such agreements are not possible the court may decide on an application for financial provision, where the courts are required by statute to have