California No Fault Divorce

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A no fault divorce is a process that mainly occur when both the spouses are equally interested to get divorce from each other. The no fault divorce is generally a less complicated process as there is no need of proving any wrong deed or complaint against the partner. Such divorce cases is easily granted on the basis of definite grounds such as, "irreconcilable differences", which simply means that there is no scope of betterment of relationship between both the spouses. So both the spouses equally contribute towards the legal breakdown of the marriage.

The advantages of no fault divorce is that the parties are not required to hire any law professionals in order to prove the grounds as it is directly accepted by the court house. However, people can give their attention to other crucial aspects such as, child custody or child support and fair distribution of property or debt between both the parties. No particular spouse is given any major financial burden during this legal process, rather every issue such as, property distribution or financial dependence etc, is resolved considering both the parties as equals. On the other hand, some rules such as community property distribution etc, can easily support the no fault divorce case as it results into equal division of marital property.

California was the first state in the United States to adopt a no fault divorce. This took place on September 05, 1969, when the Family Law Act was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan. Six months later, Iowa also introduced the no fault law. Till 1971, Oregon, Michigan, Florida and Colorado also showed a green signal to this law and within a duration of fifteen years, the entire nation embraced it.

Residency requirements of California No Fault Divorce

Residency requirement is one of the major criteria that is required to be fulfilled by the concerned divorcing parties. Prior to the filing date in this state, one or both of the divorcing partners must be staying in this state for a period of 180 days or six months prior to filing the case.

Advantages of California No Fault Divorce

The no fault divorce in California can greatly benefit the parties. Here we are listing some of the major advantages:

• The divorcing partners need not invest their precious money and time to hire detectives for offering an evidence regarding the grounds of divorce.
• As there is no need of any litigation related to grounds of divorce, several days or weeks of the lawsuit are saved.
• The divorcing couple can directly focus on vital issues like distribution of marital assets, maintenance, child support and custody.

Effect of no fault divorce law

Some people state that after the no fault divorce law was accepted in California and elsewhere, there was an increase in the number of divorces. In 1960, 16% of the first marriages failed, while in 1980, 40% of the first marriages failed. The current scenario is that 50% of the marriages culminate in a divorce. 60% of all divorces involve minor children.

Marriage vows have lost their significance as just irreconcilable differences are regarded as sufficiently robust for obtaining divorce.

Such unilateral divorces have certainly affected the women in the society. They have to face economical losses and the burden of child care. Some people are of the opinion that in such sort of divorces, women are not provided adequate child support and spousal care.

The summer 1996 issue of the Public Interest Journal has an article titled "Divorce American Style" by William A. Galston. He argues that men searching for an easy route out of long-term marriages take benefit of no fault divorce system.

Spousal Support

A Judge in the Family Court in this state considers the following factors before taking a decision regarding spousal support.

• Contribution of each divorcing partner towards the marriage. This may be in the form of investments, homemaking, regular employment, etc.
• The requirement of the custodial parent to remain at home along with the children.
• Economical obligations to prior families
• The Health condition of each party, for example, if either of two partners is suffered from some incurable disease then such individual will definitely receive some additional support after their divorce.
• Marketable skills that each divorcing partner possesses or has the capacity to acquire.
• The standard of living enjoyed in marital life
• The ages of the divorcing couple
• The duration of marriage

It can be stated that in a state like California, no fault divorce is one of the common processes followed in order to provide a legal end to various unsuccessful marriages.

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