You Know What’s Worse Than Getting Divorced In Connecticut? Not Getting Divorced In New York.
by Ryan McKeen
Yesterday, I had a conversation with a lawyer who informed me that New York does not have no fault divorce. Instead, the parties must prove fault.
I was shocked to learn this.
In Connecticut, divorce is the only area of practice that I can think of where the ultimate outcome is never in question. If a party wants to get divorced they have to file for divorce and that’s pretty much it. Generally, there’s never a question as to whether or not the divorce will happen and that’s a good thing.
Connecticut law recognizes that marriages can breakdown without cruelty, abondonement, or adultery.
I was astonished to learn that New York has what amounts to some of the most conservative divorce laws in the country.
Some may argue that no fault divorce laws make divorce too easy and that ultimately harms society. I’ll argue that people don’t get divorced for fun and trapping people in bad marriages is worse for society.
In sum: Connecticut > New York.
June 25th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Really? That's shocking!
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Ryan Reply:
June 25th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
That's what I'm told and wikipedia backs the person up. If it's on wikipedia it must be true!
More to the point what's worse than not getting divorced in NY is not being able to get married in NY!
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June 26th, 2009 at 4:04 am
As far as I know, NY is the only state without a no fault divorce. The closest you can get to a version of a "no fault divorce" is if you live apart from one another for at least a year and then you file a separation agreement with the county clerk. If you get a divorce this way, you don't have to give testimony about why you are getting a divorce. I am not sure, but I also heard that you get an automatic divorce if you can prove one spouse is a Yankee and one spouse is a Red Sox fan.
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Ryan Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
There should be a Yankee fan exception. If you marry a Yankee fan it qualifies as insufferable cruelty per se.
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June 30th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
a friend of mine went through the NY divorce process. not good times.I don't think she had to go through the 1 year separation process but it was pretty close
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Ryan Reply:
June 30th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
Bill Baker said that northeastern states are very outwardly liberal and very inwardly conservative. Try telling someone from the south that we can't buy beer on Sunday. It makes for great conversation.
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January 21st, 2010 at 9:30 am
You think the NY divorce laws are somehow arbitrary? Wrong? Think they are constructed to protect the people (aka Sheeple)? Wrong again. You think the laws have some overall goal of protecting society and the family unit? Wrong, wrong, wrong again. Here is the real reason, clearly the laws are made by and for the lawyers — those greedy selfish bastards have been making out like bandits for years. Think about it. When both lawyers find out how much the assets are, they will create enough fighting and emotion so that they can get their big fat extortionate fees! The legal system in NV competes to gain revenue by making it easier, simpler and cheaper to get married or divorced. In the US if the wife doesnt get all your money the lawyers will, then what they dont get the flippin IRS is after!
After paying over 50% of my income in taxes (when you include the social security and other payroll taxes) as well as sales tax, state income tax and federal taxes, you see why I am moving to Australia. The US has just gone crazy and is draining its citizens like so many parasites.
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