New York No Fault Divorce Law

There has been a major change to the New York divorce laws. The state of New York now has a no fault divorce law. Either party to a marriage can now sue for a divorce and allege that the marriage is irretrievably broken for a period of six months. There is no defense to this allegation.

Custody / Visitation and Financial Issues

Once the no-fault basis for divorce is alleged, the court subsequently focuses on the other details that are relevant to the divorce proceeding. The court will immediately turn its attention to the issues of custody, child support, visitation, spousal maintenance, the equitable division of property, whether the parties have medical insurance and all other issues involving the marital estate.

This is a significant change in the divorce laws in New York. It eliminates litigating as to who was sleeping with whom or who was cruel and inhumane towards whom. It takes issues of fault and allegations regarding fault out of the divorce process.

Economic Divorce

With the elimination of fault as a factor in divorce proceedings, the court now deals with economic issues such as spousal support, division of property, child support and the issues surrounding child custody and visitation. Divorces should move through the courts faster.

On behalf of all the people in New York who plan on getting divorced in the future, we thank the state legislature and Governor David Paterson for their foresight in simplifying the process.

New Attorney’s Fees Rule

With the enactment of the new no fault divorce law, the State Legislature also changed the law in the State of New York with regard to the payment of attorneys fees in divorce cases. The new law creates a presumption that the monied spouse (the party that earns the most money) will pay the lawyer’s fees for his or her spouse. This new statute is designed to try to protect the non monied spouse in divorce situations. In the recent cases we have seen in our law office, the new law has an effect of creating a financial burden on the monied spouse that is difficult to overcome.

Temporary Support Provisions Under the New No-Fault Divorce Law

The new No Fault Divorce Law also has a section that requires the monied spouse to pay temporary spousal maintenance (alimony) to the non monied spouse. Example: if one party to the marriage is earning $100,000.00 a year and the other party is making $30,000.00 per year, the monied spouse will have to pay temporary support to the non monied spouse. Unfortunately, the legislators in Albany who drafted this new statute, did not have practical experience in dealing with matrimonial and family law issues in everyday life situations. This new law will most likely have a different impact than what was intended. Instead of motivating spouses in divorce situations to settle their matters amicably, it will most likely fund more litigation!

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