From there, the divorce would proceed as it would for anyone, with either the minor or guardian advancing the motion. The “guardian ad litem” instead acts in the place of the minor. That person is known as the “guardian ad litem” and is different from an attorney, who is the advocate for the minor. So how does a minor secure a divorce? Berg says it always requires an extra step, where a court would consider the case and a judge would decide if the minor can participate in their divorce proceedings, or else an adult would be appointed to act on behalf of the minor to make decisions in their best interests. Many feel trapped by the law that prevents them from divorcing for many reasons, including the struggle of finding a lawyer while underage. Some are hoping to stop a marriage from happening, while others have fled their marriages and are in hiding. “Women call in all different situations,” Reiss explains. That phone call provided her with a list of organizations to help expedite the divorce process and helped her “gain the things that I needed to be self-sufficient." “I had enough wherewithal and grit to pick up the phone book and call the Texas Department of Health and Human Services and seek out resources in the community that would facilitate my desire to get a divorce," she says. Trevicia Williams, a former child bride from Texas, tells Teen Vogue that after she was married at 14, she wanted an annulment within the first 30 days. “So even if I have a client who was forced into a marriage and suffers significant consequences as a result, it’s not relevant in the divorce proceedings.” “What that means is that fault can’t be a basis for any of the actions in the divorce proceedings,” Berg says. Unfortunately, she says many states are no-fault divorce states and don’t recognize domestic violence as grounds for divorce. If a minor enters a marriage and there’s abuse, any hurdle to exiting that marriage has the potential to prolong the abuse, which, Berg says, doesn’t mean as much to the courts as you might think. One dominant reason that advocates are concerned with married minors having access to divorce is because data shows that child marriage leads to higher risk of domestic violence. “Before somebody becomes a legal adult, he or she can easily be forced into a marriage or forced to stay in a marriage,” Reiss tells Teen Vogue. That’s why she is fighting to make these ages equal. Fraidy Reiss, whose nonprofit organization Unchained At Last provides free assistance to girls who are forced into marriage, says the problem lies in the difference between the age when girls can marry and the “age of majority” when minors reach legal adulthood, which is 18 in most states.
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