I researched the change from fault to no fault divorce in Nebraska during the late 20th century. Fault divorce was one party filing for divorce, claiming that the other party was guilty for ruining the marriage, while in no fault divorce no blame was placed on either party.
The change started in 1969, with California dismantling their fault based divorce system and then implementing the no fault divorce system. Almost all states followed California soon after and adopted their own no fault laws, with New York being the final state in 2010. The divorce laws were intended to have positive changes to all aspects of the law. However, these changes resulted in mainly negative consequences in alimony, property assets, child custody, and economics …show more content…
This purpose of alimony was now to equalize the property settlement that was previously decided. Also, the trend for awarding alimony was toward ‘rehabilitative alimony.’ This type of alimony was awarded only for a short period, often for only two years. It was intended to “give the woman the opportunity to re-equip herself for self-support.” Alimony also depended on: circumstances of marriage, length of marriage, and ability of primary parent to engage in gainful employment without interfering in the interest of minor children in their custody. However, alimony awards also depended on the discretion of the judge and what the judge thought would be equitable for both parties of the …show more content…
However, it left many women dangerously close to the poverty line. This was because divorce had been shown to be a major factor in increased poverty of women and children during the 1970s. Another factor may have had to do with the time period when women were just starting to gain more equal rights in the workplace compared to before. Many times, women faced wage discrimination in terms of not earning a ‘family wage’ like they needed if they had physical custody of their children. Overall, economics was one aspect of divorce that disguised the problems women faced when going through a divorce.
In terms of property assets, the fault based divorce law used to award assets in two different ways: the common-law system or the fault system. The common-law system would distribute what was in the name of the husband to be given to him and what was in the name of the wife to be given to her. The fault system would distribute the assets by innocent to guilty. Such that the innocent party was usually awarded more of the property compared to the party at fault, to punish the at fault party for ending the
The change started in 1969, with California dismantling their fault based divorce system and then implementing the no fault divorce system. Almost all states followed California soon after and adopted their own no fault laws, with New York being the final state in 2010. The divorce laws were intended to have positive changes to all aspects of the law. However, these changes resulted in mainly negative consequences in alimony, property assets, child custody, and economics …show more content…
This purpose of alimony was now to equalize the property settlement that was previously decided. Also, the trend for awarding alimony was toward ‘rehabilitative alimony.’ This type of alimony was awarded only for a short period, often for only two years. It was intended to “give the woman the opportunity to re-equip herself for self-support.” Alimony also depended on: circumstances of marriage, length of marriage, and ability of primary parent to engage in gainful employment without interfering in the interest of minor children in their custody. However, alimony awards also depended on the discretion of the judge and what the judge thought would be equitable for both parties of the …show more content…
However, it left many women dangerously close to the poverty line. This was because divorce had been shown to be a major factor in increased poverty of women and children during the 1970s. Another factor may have had to do with the time period when women were just starting to gain more equal rights in the workplace compared to before. Many times, women faced wage discrimination in terms of not earning a ‘family wage’ like they needed if they had physical custody of their children. Overall, economics was one aspect of divorce that disguised the problems women faced when going through a divorce.
In terms of property assets, the fault based divorce law used to award assets in two different ways: the common-law system or the fault system. The common-law system would distribute what was in the name of the husband to be given to him and what was in the name of the wife to be given to her. The fault system would distribute the assets by innocent to guilty. Such that the innocent party was usually awarded more of the property compared to the party at fault, to punish the at fault party for ending the