In October, 2010, New York State became the last state in the country to recognize no-fault divorce. This means that a spouse can seek the dissolution of the marriage based upon the “irretrievable breakdown in the marriage”. So long as the economic issues are resolved by the parties or determined by the court, the marriage will be dissolved. Those issues include equitable distribution (which does not necessarily mean an equal or 50/50 split of the assets), spousal support, child support, payment of counsel and expert fees and expenses, and custody and visitation plans.
With no fault divorce as an option, the court no longer needs to hear the reasons for the divorce and instead just goes directly to the divorce process and deciding the economic issues mentioned above. The couple no longer needs to prove that one spouse is at fault and place blame or misconduct on the part of the other spouse. Instead, the reason for the divorce is “simply” that there is an irretrievable breakdown in the marriage and the court and the parties can work on deciding the economic issues.
The new law is expected to reduce litigation over the reasons for the divorce and the reason that a court should consider hearing a couple’s request for a divorce which often served as an impediment and was very costly to couples who merely seek to end their marriage. Now couples who agree to get divorce, can bypass the hurdle of proving “fault” and they can go to court and be heard by a judge who will consider the meat of their divorce dispute.
This statute also makes divorce a lot more accessible to couples who have sought to get divorced but could not meet the other fault grounds, except to be legally separated for a year and then do a “conversion divorce”. So now, those couples no longer need to wait a year to file for divorce – they can simply claim the no fault ground and file now.
What are your thoughts? Do you think that this is a good idea or does this just make it too easy for people to end their marriage? Write your comments below.
