Real no-fault divorce does not exist in New York as of  this draft of our website (February, 2006). Don't give up hope, a fault free divorce is under active consideration in the New York Legislature.  New York and Alaska are the last two jurisdictions remaining in the United States that require proof of fault in order to secure a divorce.

While new York recognizes its own version of 'No-Fault' divorce in Section 170 of the Domestic Relations Law, that section provides for divorce only when the parties have lived apart pursuant to a Separation Agreement or Decree for a period of one year. True no-fault divorce began in California with the passage of the Family Law Act of 1969. The Act was signed by Governor Ronald Regan on September 4, 1969 and took effect January 1, 1970 when that state eliminated the need to establish fault to obtain a divorce and implemented the Country's first a pure no-fault divorce law, allowing for dissolution of a marriage on the grounds of "irreconcilable differences. "No-fault quickly spread across the Country.  By 1983 every state except South Dakota had passed some version of a  no fault divorce law, but not always as liberal as that passed by California. New York is generally recognized at the toughest 'no-fault' state in the Country as the parties must live apart pursuant to the terms of and agreement or Decree for a year, not really no- fault at all.

On February 6, 2006 a commission appointed to look into New York State's matrimonial laws called for changes in New York's divorce and child custody rules, including the authorization of no-fault divorces. The Commission, appointed Chief Judge Judith Kaye in 2004, called for a broad range of changes to bring New York's matrimonial laws more in line with practices around the United States. Judge Kay said that divorce takes too long and costs too much and has implemented a number of changes in the way divorces proceed through the system since she took office. The centerpiece of those recommendations is real no-fault divorce that would make it possible to secure a divorce without having to establish fault on the part of a spouse.  It must be noted that although Judge Kaye has championed the issue of no-fault divorce for some time the issue languished in the Legislature for over one year.

''There's been no real talk about having a true no-fault divorce,'' said John DeFrancisco, the Republican chairman of the State Senate's Judiciary Committee. He said that he has been focused, as a first step, on cutting down the amount of time it takes to get divorced once a separation agreement is reached. A spokesman for Gov. George E. Pataki said that the governor had yet to review the commission's proposal.

Simply put, there is no true no-fault divorce available in New York. The issue is the rope in a tug of war between groups espousing positions having little to do with the improvement of the system or the overall benefits to the litigants or their children. Until the New York legislature joins the rest of the Country in this century no-fault divorce remains available in neighboring states only.