Which doctrine allows a divorce to be divisible into separate permissible components?

Which doctrine allows a divorce to be divisible into separate permissible components?

• A. Divisible divorce doctrine
• B. Entirety doctrine
• C. Comity doctrine
• D. Full faith and credit doctrine

Answer: (A)

Divisible divorce doctrine captures the idea that a foreign divorce can be treated as two separable things: the dissolution of the marriage itself can be recognized, while other relief (like alimony, property division, or custody) may not be binding in the recognizing state if those issues weren’t properly adjudicated there or if the issuing court lacked jurisdiction over them. This lets a state acknowledge that the marriage is dissolved, without automatically enforcing, or requiring, all ancillary orders that might have been part of the foreign decree. The other doctrines don’t nail down this selective recognition: the entirety doctrine would demand recognizing all parts of the foreign decree, comity refers to courtesy rather than a formal rule about divisibility, and full faith and credit provides the broad framework for recognizing judgments but doesn’t by itself describe splitting recognition into divorce versus ancillary relief.

Divisible divorce doctrine captures the idea that a foreign divorce can be treated as two separable things: the dissolution of the marriage itself can be recognized, while other relief (like alimony, property division, or custody) may not be binding in the recognizing state if those issues weren’t properly adjudicated there or if the issuing court lacked jurisdiction over them. This lets a state acknowledge that the marriage is dissolved, without automatically enforcing, or requiring, all ancillary orders that might have been part of the foreign decree. The other doctrines don’t nail down this selective recognition: the entirety doctrine would demand recognizing all parts of the foreign decree, comity refers to courtesy rather than a formal rule about divisibility, and full faith and credit provides the broad framework for recognizing judgments but doesn’t by itself describe splitting recognition into divorce versus ancillary relief.