Also known as: prospects
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The reasonable likelihood that spouses will reconcile their differences and continue the marriage. A court evaluates this prospect to decide whether the marriage has irretrievably broken down.
Phoebe Park and Parker Phillips have lived apart for eight months after repeated arguments over finances. At the dissolution hearing Phoebe testifies that counseling failed and she sees no path forward. The court determines there is no reasonable prospect they will reconcile and therefore finds the marriage irretrievably broken.
Preston Pratt and Patricia Patel have not shared a home for seven months and communicate only through counsel. Preston presents evidence of ongoing hostility that has eroded any mutual regard for the marriage. The court concludes there is serious marital discord and no reasonable prospect of reconciliation, satisfying the statutory ground for dissolution.
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Perry Pratt denies under oath that his marriage to Pavel Petrov is broken and requests the court consider reconciliation prospects. The court reviews the history of separation and failed counseling sessions. After weighing those factors it finds no reasonable prospect of reconciliation and grants the dissolution.
A married couple asserts they face the prospect of becoming parents against medical advice and seek to terminate a pregnancy. The court evaluates whether that asserted prospect creates a concrete injury sufficient for standing in the constitutional challenge.
Same-sex couples challenge state laws that withhold marriage recognition. The court considers the prospect that continued non-recognition will perpetuate unequal treatment and weighs that prospect in determining whether the laws violate due process and equal protection.
A consumer who purchased a repainted vehicle sues the manufacturer for punitive damages. The court examines the prospect that the manufacturer's conduct will recur and uses that prospect to assess whether the punitive award is constitutionally excessive.
The court reviews the circumstances that led to the petition, the length of separation, failed counseling efforts, and the parties' attitudes toward the marriage. If those factors show no reasonable prospect of reconciliation, the marriage is deemed irretrievably broken.
Supporting sources
No. The statute treats separation for more than 180 days as one alternative ground that may prove the marriage is irretrievably broken, but the court must still find that there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
Supporting sources
The court must consider all relevant factors, including the prospect of reconciliation, before deciding whether to grant dissolution or continue the case for counseling.
Supporting sources
…advice that Mrs. Doe should avoid pregnancy, and for "other highly personal reasons." But they "fear . . . they may face the prospect of becoming parents." And if pregnancy ensues, they "would want to terminate" it by an abortion. They assert an inability to obtain an abortion legally in Texas and, consequently, the…