New York – Divorce filings are up 12 percent since the state last October adopted no-fault separations, which allows couples to split without having to prove why.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
There were 37,015 divorce filings statewide from October 2010 through this May, compared to 33,160 in the year-ago period, according to court data.
Under New York’s former system, husbands and wives had to prove grounds for dissolving the marriage by providing embarrassing, and often false, testimony.
Divorce is also less expensive as a result of the change.
“People didn’t want to deal with that embarrassment. This is a much easier process,” said lawyer Fred Siegel. “You would have to spend significant energy and money long before you even got to the economics.”
Also playing a role in the increase are provisions that ensure that the wealthier spouse provides legal fees, attorneys said.
But attorney Bernard Clair said the increase is more likely due to changes in the economy.
“This has nothing to do with no-fault,” he said. “There’s been the sense that the economy is now getting a little better.”
It just may be up b/c Pple think its perfectly ok to cheat on their spouses! Men are cheating on their wives left and right! And, no consequences what so ever! The courts don’t care cuz its not illegal to cheat, and the rabbonim don’t care and give these men a big baruch haba and shalom aleichem when they greet them in Shul! Of course divorce rates have gone up! Pple have very little morality left!
I’m not sure this is necessarily a negative sign. Many of these marriages should never have been consumated and divorce allows the parties to renew their lives and start over with a better partner. Forcing dysfunctional marriages to stay together by making divorce more difficult only serves to worsen the problem and c’v could lead to desparate actions by the individuals involved.
Divorce among goyim… not concerned.
Divorce among Jews… a 12% gain on a current 10% divorce rate is only a gain of .012 for a total of 11.2%, not that big a deal, although every divorce is a shame.
Probably just the backlog looking to clear, like a traffic jam clearing after an accident. It may go back down soon.
I actually think this is really horrible! No-Fault Divorces?!
I’m sorry, but if you are prepared to stand before G-d and make the vow to be married, you should be able to stand before Him to explain WHY you are now breaking your vows. Period.
This is a shameful piece of legislation. People complain about gay marriage all the time, but I think what is going on in the heterosexual\religious communities is far worse! The statistics are terrible, and with legislation such as this…they will only get worse!