The New York state assembly has passed a bill authorizing no-fault divorce in New York. Governor David Patterson signed the bill on August 15; it goes into effect on October 12, 2010.
The provision is an amendment to Domestic Relations Law (DRL) Section 170, and states that, as one of the grounds for divorce in the State of New York, a new ground for divorce shall be that:
(7) The relationship between husband and wife has broken down irretrievably for a period of at least six months, provided that one party has so stated under oath. No judgment of divorce shall be granted under this subdivision unless and until the economic issues of equitable distribution of marital property, the payment or waiver of spousal support, the payment of child support, the payment of counsel and experts’ fees and expenses as well as the custody and visitation with the infant children of the marriage have been resolved by the parties, or determined by the court and incorporated into the judgment of divorce.
What this provision means is that you will no longer have to accuse your spouse of refusing to engage in sexual relations, or neither admit nor deny that accusation if it is made against you. Fault is no longer an issue. In the real world of New York divorce the grounds for divorce were rarely an issue anyway. This simply takes the issue off the table. It was one of the few bargaining chips that a reluctant-to-divorce spouse had to seek a more generous financial settlement; that is now gone. If either of you wants out, you are getting divorced.
However, the Court cannot grant a divorce until all other issues, including custody and support of children, support of a spouse, distribution of all assets, and so forth, have all been settled. So, the real issues are still there.
Now that grounds are no longer an issue, there is no reason whatsoever to engage in litigation. All the outstanding issues can be much more easily settled, and at a fraction of the cost, through mediation.
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