A divorce must be certified by a court of law, as a legal action is needed to dissolve the prior legal act of marriage.

The terms of the divorce are also determined by the court, though they may take into account prenuptial agreements or postnuptial agreements, or simply ratify terms that the spouses have agreed on privately.

Often, however, the spouses disagree about the terms of the divorce, which can lead to stressful litigation.

A less adversarial approach to divorce settlements has emerged in recent years, known as mediation, an attempt to negotiate mutually acceptable resolution to conflicts.