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Forty-nine states in the Union permit residents to pursue no-fault divorces, but not the Empire State. New York doesn't accept "irreconcilable differences" as grounds for ending marriage, and so one spouse must prove in court that the other is guilty of adultery, cruel and inhuman treatment, or withholding sex for a year.
The excruciating process cost one couple—the Daily News calls them John and Kelly—$100,000 in legal fees. Though they wanted to split amicably in 2006, they've been dealing with legal roadblocks for years. John's lawyer, Michael Stutman, tells the News, "This family spent an awful lot of money just getting to the point where it could be decided whether or not they could get a divorce. So they took a 100-grand hit because of all this fiddling around." Yeah, but you should see Stutman's yacht! (Kidding, we have no idea whether Mr. Stutman owns a yacht or, if he does, if it's named "Knot Guilty.")
Part of the reason for the inaction is that lawmakers are beholden to lawyers for campaign donations, and, as one source tells the News, "This is bread and butter to [divorce lawyers]. If you have no-fault, you cut the time and cost in half, so you're cutting their bread and butter in half." After being stymied for years, plucky Assemblyman Adam Bradley is still pushing a bill that would let couples file no-fault divorces. But as Bradley puts it, "In Albany, progress is like the sands of time. When a grain of sand goes down, that's what passes for progress."
After two decades serving as New York's top judge for divorces, Jacqueline Silbermann couldn't take it anymore; she calls it "an abominable situation. It is absolutely impossible to get the Legislature to act on this. I tried for years." But not everyone thinks no-fault is the way to go; Dennis Poust, a spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, says no-fault divorces make it too easy for couples to split: "You don't walk away from other contractual obligations, do you?"
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We already have pre-nups, those seeking to get married but worried about having an escape hatch should just get married in another state.
99% of lawyers should be locked up in internment camps. They're nothing but gangsters with law degrees and briefcases.
Shakespeare was right.
I hear Gitmo may have vacancies in the near future!
Good God, are you an idiot or what? When Shakespeare wrote that, he meant that the surest way for tyranny to succeed was to remove the guardians of freedom, i.e. lawyers and the judicial system. Go back to school, the job market is shit anyway.
he meant that the surest way for tyranny to succeed was to remove the guardians of freedom, i.e. lawyers and the judicial system
Yeah -- funny how everyone still thinks they're vile humans, huh? They have to really work for it.
While often a necessary evil, attorneys rule our politics and legislature. Virtually nothing can be accomplished in New York without an attorney. And then it is in the interest of both parties' attorneys to "churn" the case to drag on for maximal billable hours, despite the amiable mutual agreement of their clients. You could try to bring suit to rectify such a situation, but, oh well, you know what that means.
that's what you get for falling in lust. Dudes don't seem to realize that hot chick you married will get old, fat and ugly and in probably less time than you think.
hahaha...so funny how you assumed it would be the "hot" guy ditching his fat wife! lol
Dennis Poust, a spokesman for the New York State Catholic Conference, says "We're a bunch of superstitious ideologues with no credibility whatsoever. Really, you should listen carefully to what we recommend and then do the exact opposite."
Oh jeez, I blew that one. Here's what I really should have said.
"You don't just walk away from other contractual obligations, do you? You need to have them anulled first."
no-fault divorces make it two easy for couples to split
Come now, gothamist. If you need the services of a copy editor, I'm available quite reasonably.
Wow, you noticed a typo.
Actually no, I did not notice a typo. A typo would be typing 'tpo' instead of 'too'. Typing 'two' instead of 'too' is just a mistake.
Mimetic: Actually no, I did not notice a typo. A typo would be typing 'tpo' instead of 'too'. Typing 'two' instead of 'too' is just a mistake.
Mimetic, let me fix that for you. It's "Actually, no," with a comma, and "'too.'" with the period INSIDE the single quote marks. Good luck with the copywriting career, jackass.
Why not just wait a year (with no sex), and then you're all set. Or, simply cheat! How do you prove it in court? One spouse simply admits it.
There, I just saved you $100k. I'll take 1% as a finder's fee.
The article says they didn't do this because the wife didn't agree. So it doesn't seem like they both really wanted a no-fault divorce, and in my mind, the situation is not a good argument for no-fault divorce (it should exist, but not because a few whining richies couldn't act like adults).
There's a grounds for divorce called "Conversion of written agreement of separation." Write up a separation agreement. Notarize it. File it with the County Clerk when you buy your index number.
An uncontested divorce with no minor children should cost about $400.
These people are morons. If a lawyer wants to take advantage of that, it's unethical, but whatever. I called a lawyer about an uncontested divorce under these terms and he said it would cost me BASE $5,000. He said, "these are not just cookie cutter forms." That was a straight up lie. They actually are cookie cutter forms. You can get them from the New York Unified Court System's website. Here: http://www.courts.state.ny.us/ip/matrimonial-matters/forms.shtml
You can file for seperation, wait a year, and then divorce. It takes a year, but it can be done.
OK kids, time for a little reality check here. First a little disclosure, I am one of those nasty divorce lawyers you all want to string up from flagpoles and whatnot.
Getting a basic divorce in this state is not as difficult as people seem to think. Yes it is easier with an attorney as we know more than just the law, we know the rules and the way things need to get done in order to finish it easily and quickly. If two people agree on the grounds, even if they may not be exactly true, most people can get a divorce on papers, without having to deal with going to court and that is what most people do.
rbeshenk: whoever qouted that price for an uncontested divorce is an idiot.
Yes, no-fault divorce would make things a bit easier, but in no way would it cut down on the time that people spend getting divorced as much as you may think they do, because the people who are spending a lot of time and money going through their divorces are not usually fighting about grounds. They are fighting about money and children.
So bury your sticks children and find another target. Its not us lawyers who are holding up the process. Its you. All of you who can't agree on whether mommy or daddy should have junior on every Saturday or every other Saturday.
And its the idiots among you who choose to fight over televisions and furniture.
Mostly, its the idiots among you who choose, rather than to settle your differences amicably, to fight about petty things that have little to do with the rest of your lives.
I will end my little tirade with a final thought, which is, no matter how easy you make divorces in New York State (and I personally am all for no-fault divorces) idiots who can't agree will make me and my colleagues money.
Jesus, rent a billboard already, Oliver Wendell Holmes.