Whose fault is it?

This should welcome news to many of my prospective clients, but New York now has a no-fault divorce law.  Well, the law does not go into effect until October, but the law has been signed.  Since I handle matrimonial law, and advertise this service, I often get calls from people asking questions about getting a divorce.  Usually the call starts off with the basics - "do you handle divorces?" "what does it cost?".  Then, if the person just recently separated, the question turns to "do I really have to wait a year before I get divorced??"  "can't I just say that he (or she) treated me cruelly?"  or "I have a friend who got divorced in fifteen minutes and it only cost him $25 - he did it all at Staples!!"  

Until now, in order to obtain a divorce in New York, you generally had to prove that you had grounds.  The Domestic Relations Law listed a handful of limited grounds, such as adultery, cruel and inhuman treatment, abandonment, and living separate and apart under an agreement for a year. Abandonment and separation agreement are (were?) very popular grounds, but both require a year of separation between the parties. 

Another potential problem with abandonment can be illustrated by an example.  Say a husband and wife are living together in misery.  Neither want to be married to the other, but like many people, they each have a hard time "breaking up".  Maybe husband doesn't like the idea of having to get a new apartment, so he drags his feet, and eventually the wife packs up and leaves.  He may also be indifferent to the divorce, and also be reluctant to incurring the legal fees.  So as a result you have a situation where unless the husband were to file for the divorce, there may not have been grounds under the old NY system.   She abandoned him.  She probably was justified, but under the law she was at "fault" for abandoning him and he would have to be the one to be the plaintiff in the divorce.  

The new law requires only that one spouse swear under oath that a relationship has broken down for at least six months.  No blaming anyone for the breakdown in the relationship.  Much simpler, and less expensive than proving grounds.  

I'll leave it to others to debate whether or not expedited divorce is a positive thing, but New York was the last state to enact a law relaxing the divorce grounds, so it seems the state is just aligning itself with the rest of the country.