You are sitting with your supervising attorney in an initial client interview. Jerry, the potential client, is hopping mad! He wants a divorce. His wife cheated on him and he wants to tell the court all of the "juicy" facts. He wants to embarrass her and hopefully by doing so, will not have to pay her any alimony. Your supervising attorney can sympathize with Jerry, but he must explain to him that the jurisdiction is a no-fault divorce jurisdiction. You and your attorney have previously prepared a canned presentation. What was included in this presentation about no-fault divorce?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Prior to the establishment of no-fault divorce, parties seeking divorce had to prove to the courts that they had facts that supported the requirements of the various, but somewhat limited, grounds for divorce. For example, they had to prove physical or mental abuse, such as habitual drunkenness, or abandonment, or adultery. Often these requirements were difficult to meet, so parties, who mutually wanted a divorce, would collude to create "facts" to meet the particular requirements of a ground. In this fault-based era, the law played an important part in both the granting of divorce and in the determination of the amount set for alimony awards and the distribution of marital property. In the 1960s and 1970s, with public support, the legislatures modified the divorce laws to include no-fault divorce as a ground that the marriage had been irretrievably broken. Neither party had to blame or defend against fault. Neither party would be required to "sling mud." Moreover, the court will not "punish" a spouse by basing alimony on alleged "misdeeds."