What are the grounds for divorce and does fault make a difference in determining the outcome?
A. In New Jersey, there are several “fault-based” grounds and one “no fault” cause of action for divorce. In most cases, fault has no bearing on how marital assets will be divided or on how support and alimony issues will be decided. Many lawyers and judges consider the concept of marital fault to be dead in New Jersey C absent truly bizarre circumstances. In rare cases, the Court may consider the grounds for divorce as a factor in determining alimony. Again, this is the exception as opposed to the rule. Without digressing from the realities, the provable claim would have to be something along the lines of the spouse at fault visiting the other, sickly spouse “while in the hospital and in guarded condition” to share the existence of a continuing affair with a dear friend of the ailing spouse, with the friend having already moved into the marital home, wearing the hospitalized spouse’s pajamas to bed. Fault is an emotional factor in a divorce, but it typically has little or no influence
