A covenant marriage is a marriage that contains a number of legal stipulations which are not included in non-covenant marriages. For example, covenant marriages require premarital counseling. If problems arise during the course of the marriage, then they require marital counseling. Further, covenant marriages only allow for divorce under certain conditions. These conditions generally include abuse, abandonment, adultery, and several others.
Covenant marriages were created in order to try to limit the occurrence of divorce. Covenant marriages essentially create more hoops to jump through before a divorce can be granted. It limits the number of conditions which can cause a divorce. Only a small number of states have the option of covenant marriages. In these states, couples can decide whether or not they would like to enter a covenant marriage or a regular marriage. If they do enter a covenant divorce, then they are subject to all of the legal conditions which go with the divorce.