legislative divorce

Hist. The legal termination of a particular marriage, enacted by the legislature rather than by a court.

• In the 18th century, Colonial American legislatures granted these special statutes. In 1816, the House of Burgesses of Virginia granted a divorce to Rachel Robards Jackson, the wife of then President Andrew Jackson, from a former spouse. Mrs. Jackson’s untimely death was attributed to her reaction to the scandal that she had married Jackson before the divorce was procured. Now only state courts have authority to grant decrees of divorce.

— Also termed parliamentary divorce. [Cases: Divorce 5. C.J.S. Divorce § 4.]

---

词条贡献者

译者蒋毅，毕业于亚洲顶尖的高级翻译学院，擅长翻译各种与破产与资产重组相关的法律文件。