Covenant Marriage

A form of marriage found in some states of the US in which the couple agree to obtain pre-marital counselling and accept more limited grounds for divorce.

Couples in those states (Arizona, Arkansas and Louisiana) can decide when they apply for a marriage license to have a covenant marriage or they can wait until after they are married to upgrade their marriage to a covenant marriage.

The movement to create covenant marriage was largely driven by evangelical Christians as a political and cultural response to the ready availability of no-fault divorce and the United States' high divorce rate. Cause for divorce in a covenant marriage is typically limited to abuse, adultery, or a felony with jail time.