The State Senate on Tuesday, clearing aside decades of opposition, put New York on a course to adopt no-fault divorce ”” the last state to do so. It approved legislation that would permit couples to separate by mutual consent, a major shift with sweeping implications for families and lawyers.
For decades, New Yorkers have been bedeviled by divorce laws that critics said prompted endless litigation and custody fights that were both unnecessary and cruel.
Under current divorce law, one spouse must take the blame, even if both sides agree that a marriage cannot be saved. To get a divorce, one party must allege cruel and inhuman treatment or adultery or abandonment, or the couple must be legally separated for one year.
The new legislation still has to pass the State Assembly, which is considering two bills that would include some version of no-fault divorce. But advocates said Tuesday that they believed that victory in the Senate, which was controlled by Republicans until last year, gave the measure momentum and a high likelihood of gaining approval in the Assembly, which is also controlled by Democrats.
Since there’s provision for divorce after one year of separation – which offers at least the possibility of reconciliation – it’s not strictly accurate to say that New York prohibits no-fault divorce, just that instantaneous divorce requires some further justification.
And do people really imagine that “endless litigation and custody fights” will cease once this has passed? It doesn’t seem to be the case elsewhere.
It’s a shame for New York State that the government in power only represents half the population and a seventh of the area.
No fault divorce changes very little. Since alimony, child custody and property division involve the conduct of the parties, fault is never far away.
Sad.
Personally, I think no fault divorce has been an unmitigated disaster, and the devastated children of divorced couples always suffer the most. It’s highly symptomatic of what’s wrong with American culture that all 50 states will apparently soon allow some version of no fault divorce. The state does indeed have a compelling interest in helping to preserve marriages, even troubled or unhappy ones, rather than make it easier to dissolve them.
David Handy+
I heartily agree with Rev. Handy’s comments. IMO there should be three grounds for divorce which may be summed up as the three A’s… Abuse, Adultery and Abandonment. I also favor a three strikes rule on remarriages to discourage 2 day courtships followed by a trip to the drive thru wedding chapel in Vegas where you get “hitched” by an Elvis impersonator.
Hmmm, I didn’t even know there was a state left that did not have no-fault divorce. Learn something new everyday, I guess.