S3890 (Hassell-Thompson) / A9753 (Bing) This is the “no-fault divorce” bill that has passed both legislatures and awaiting signature of the Governor. It is a disaster on many levels. It’s societal impact will increase the number of divorces as it has done in every other state that has passed similiar legislation. Currently, NYS actually has a low divorce rate of 38.7% compared to NJ & CT being 56% & 60%. Our current divorce laws requires the consent of both husband and wife or one can prove the other is guilty of a major fault, such as adultery or physical abuse. This law negates that. One can bail, and the other can do nothing about it. The wife could tear the children away from the father or more often, the husband’s leaving will financially cripple the wife and children that will statistically carry over to the next generation along with all the other social ills that plagues our society.
At a time when New York is facing an approximate $10 billion deficit, the State Legislature just voted to add to that cost. According to the Heritage Foundation, each divorce costs taxpayers $20,000. This is a conservative figure since NYS has the most generous Medicaid program compared to most. Then there’s food stamps, Earned Income Tax Credit, housing subsidies, day care subsidies, etc. With the extra number of divorces expected, it will cost NYS $580,000,000 of new spending in the first year after the proposed legislation is enacted.
Please ask Governor Paterson to seriously consider both the fiscal and moral concerns raised by no-fault divorce, and veto this faulty legislation.
According to the voting record, Bill Magee did not cast a vote on this one.
After working in matrimonial law for over 30 years I believe I can say you are wrong on this issue. While there may be an initial “rush” of divorces, they will mostly be “dead marriages”, where the couples have not lived together for years, but because of the 5 year cause limitations, they have lost their grounds for divorce. All divorces in New York State do now and will continue to require settlement of the issues of custody,child support, visitation, maintenance, medical insurance coverage and division of debts and assets. Not only do I support the new provision for the Domestic Relations Law, I also support an increase in the filing fee for an Index Number for a divorce, and I also think there should be a filing fee for Family Court Actions. I would be happy to host a question and answer gathering in my home.