What is a no-fault divorce?
It is a divorce in which neither person is required to, or allowed to blame the other for the breakdown of the marriage. There are no accusations and no need to prove marital misconduct or “guilt.” The basis for a no-fault divorce is “irreconcilable difference” or “irretrievable breakdown of marriage.” The court will grant the divorce, but will not assign blame. Washington is a no-fault divorce state. The only grounds for divorce is the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. There is no burden of proof. If the Petitioners states that the marriage is irretrievably broken, the court will grant the divorce, even if objected to by the other party.
Traditionally, divorce was granted on the basis of some marital misconduct such as adultery or physical abuse. In these cases the guilty spouse was punished by getting a smaller share of the couple’s property or being denied custody of their children while the innocent spouse was rewarded for being faithful to the vows of marriage. In a no fault divorce, however, both parties agree that there is no fault involved in the grounds for divorce. In fact, any misconduct is irrelevant to the divorce proceedings. A marriage can be terminated simply because the couple agrees that it is no longer salvageable. Please note that states’ laws differ on the issue of fault or no fault divorce. Currently 49 of the 50 states have effective no-fault divorce grounds. New York State is the only state in the United States that does not have a true no-fault ground for divorce.
A “no-fault” divorce is not necessarily quicker than a divorce granted on fault grounds. The difference is simply in the allegations of the complaint. A no-fault divorce is granted automatically upon proof of certain circumstances, such as separation for 18 continuous months with no reasonable prospect of reconciliation.
The no fault divorce is actually a concept pioneered during the 1917 Communist Revolution in Russia. Instead of allowing churches the right to govern the terms of when or how a divorce could take place, it allowed people to end their marriages more quickly, merely on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. This concept took much longer to catch on in other countries, especially the US. California was the first state to institute a no fault divorce law in 1969, but it was not until 1985 that all US states permitted the concept, and it may be interpreted differently in different states. New Yorkers who seek a no fault divorce do so by signing a separation agreement. They must then wait a full year to proceed with a divorce. Essentially, a no fault divorce means that either spouse can end a marriage, and there really doesn’t have to be a reason in many cases. The cited reason is irreconcilable differences, but that can mean virtually anything from a spouse committing adultery to someon
