It appears that the New York Legislature in its final days may have acted positively towards one subject: divorce.
New York was the last state that required fault in order to grant a divorce. This meant that a divorce could only be granted if one of four grounds were met: cruel and inhuman treatment, abandonment, adultery or constructive abandonment. The parties had to admit to grounds and often times led to the parties making statements that might not have been entirely accurate in order to obtain the resolution desired.
Now under the new law parties seeking a divorce would have to state that for the preceding six months the marriage was not able to reconcile. This makes fault and acrimony between the parties less of an issue.
Despite this the issues of custody, maintenance, child support and equitable distribution will continue to need to be resolved.
The hope is that this will allow for an easier process for those parties seeking a divorce. Now the Governor needs to sign this legislation that has passed both houses.
Todd Engel
tengel@engelatty.com
http://www.engelatty.com
Engel Law Offices 