Recently the final hold out in the US moved toward enacting a no-fault divorce statute. The New York Senate passed the bill and sent it to the Assembly for its approval.
A no-fault divorce statute allows a party request a divorce without assigning blame to the other party, i.e. abuse, adultery, etc.
More than forty years ago, then Governor Ronald Reagan signed the nation’s first no-fault divorce law in California. Other states, including Texas, have enacted various forms of no-fault laws while retaining some fault grounds for divorce.
Opponents to no-fault laws have argued that making the process easier would increase the number of divorces. However, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have determined that the divorce rate in no-fault states has been comparable to the rate in states requiring fault as a basis for divorce. A professor at Johns Hopkins University has noted that Massachusetts, the state with the lowest divorce rate, has had no-fault divorces since 1975.
Do you support no-fault divorce laws? What effect do you think Texas’ no-fault laws have had on divorce here? How would you change the divorce laws in Texas?
http://roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/is-new-york-ready-for-no-fault-divorce/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/nyregion/16divorce.html
