Conflict of national laws on divorce may lead to a non-recognition of divorce in countries where the grounds on which it was obtained are not legally valid. This may render the marital status of the spouses after divorce outside the law (resulting in bigamy, adultery, cohabitation) and children from another union illegitimate.
Conflict may occur over requirements of residence, consent or duration of separation, or over the manner in which the proceedings were conducted. Elsewhere divorce may not be recognized at all. Divorce under Muslim law and African customary law does not require court proceedings in order to be valid, but this is essential elsewhere.