Marital breakdown refers to the common process whereby the relationship between a married couple erodes, such that they cannot ordinarily restore their relationship. There are many stages to the process, and each individual goes through the stages at different rates. It is a complex process involving

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

personal finance Personal finance is the financial management which an individual or a family unit performs to budget, save, and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events. When planning personal fi ...

, and often

religion Religion is usually defined as a social-cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...

. It is the breach of domestic anticipation, often leading to a divorce or dissolution of the marital relationship. Often there are children, in-laws, and other individuals involved in the process. At the end of the process, there may be no relationship left, or there may be a long-term relationship at a distance (see

legal separation Legal separation (sometimes judicial separation, separate maintenance, divorce ', or divorce from bed-and-board) is a legal process by which a married couple may formalize a separation while remaining legally married. A legal separation is gra ...

). Every marital breakdown is different in this regard. There are many reasons why some marriages last and others break down. The famous 1989 movie The War of the Roses depicts an extremely violent marital breakdown, where two otherwise reasonable people break down into violent fits of anger directed at one another. Such violence often requires immediate legal intervention to keep individuals from harming one another. In most states, a

domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...

restraining order A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protection or ...

(also sometimes called an Order of Protection) is routinely granted when one domestic partner proves that the other has caused violence. Not all marital breakdowns necessarily result in a

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

. Not all divorces result from marital breakdowns, though the courts ordinarily require one of the parties to attest on penalty of perjury that such a breakdown has occurred before a divorce can be granted. In

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

culture, divorce refers to the wife receiving an agreement that the husband has rejected the marriage; she is expected to return to her father's house.