No-fault divorce is dissolution of a marriage that does not require indication of wrong-doing of either party. Both parties do not need to petition the court. The divorce can be granted with the action of only one party even if the second party objects.
The "no-fault" divorce originated in the 1970s as result of the aversion to the current system which many felt was unjust. Before the new addition, one party was forced to accuse the other of a serious fault such as adultery, abandonment, felony, etc. The second party had the ability to make similar accusations back to the preceding. The case then went before a judge where he could accept the defendant's stance or find both parties responsible for the dysfunctional state. If either of these resulted, the marriage would not be dissolved.
Because of these limitations, couples were forced to result to illegal means in order to have a divorce passed. Lawyers would commonly advice the couple to engage in "collusive adultery." In this, a plan would be made for the wife to come home and find the husband with a "mistress." The wife would then commit perjury by telling her case to the court, and the divorce would be granted.
In many states, "cruelty" was the popular generic reasoning people used to obtain a divorce. In 1950, 70 percent of San Francisco divorce cases were filed upon grounds of cruelty. California Supreme Court justice Stanley Mosk stated:
Every day, in every superior court in the state, the same melancholy charade was played: the "innocent" spouse, generally the wife, would take the stand and, to the accompanying cacophony of sobbing and nose-blowing, testify under the deft guidance of an attorney to the spousal conduct that she deemed "cruel".
The common mockery of the American justice system angered lawyers and judges. In the 1960s, critics advocated a means by which two parties could legally dissolve their marriage in a straight forward fashion. The "No-fault" divorce was established by the state of California and signed into law Governor Ronald Reagan in the Family Law Act of 1970. The law became effective on January 1, 1970. It allowed proceedings to be based on "irreconcilable differences". Today every state with the exception of New York has a type of "no-fault" divorce law by which couples can file.
To find out more information regarding filing for no-fault divorce, please consult http://www.divorcelawyerssandiego.com today.
Joseph Devine |
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