• 12
  • September
    2011

Adam Sichko reports for the Business Review that divorce filings are up 12 percent as of June 2011. And the number probably hasn't hit its plateau. Now that it's September, the percentage has probably gone up a bit.

As Long Island divorce lawyers, all we know is that the new no-fault divorce law provides a needed route for clients who wish to get divorced without the headache of having to prove something like adultery.

As Sichko reports, one divorce lawyer said, "The issue of providing grounds resulted in substantial, unnecessary counsel fees. The game has changed so substantially."

And another lawyer said, "The focus is on the meat and potatoes: financials, assets, custody."

No-fault divorce, of course, is not a synonym for "quickie divorce," as if the new law reduces or eliminates the complexity of the issues that need to be resolved. It doesn't. What the new law does do, however, is allow married couples who want to get divorced to get divorced.

The state of New York was the last state in the nation to pass a no-fault divorce law, according to Sichko. It should be a little while yet for the dust to settle before we can look back and see the full impact of no-fault on divorce and family law.

Source: The Business Review, "Divorce filings up 12% since NY passed no-fault law," by Adam Sichko, 06/10/11