Determining Whether 'No-Fault' Law Allows Trials When Parties Disagree

The new no-fault divorce statute (Domestic Relations Law §170(7)) that was put into effect on Oct. 12, 2010, and gives parties the option of obtaining a divorce without alleging fault, has been hailed by litigants, commentators, and matrimonial judges as marking the end of pointless and expensive trials over divorce grounds. Today, to establish grounds, a married person commencing an action for divorce in New York need allege under oath only that the marital relationship “has broken down irretrievably for a period of at least six months.”¹ On the surface, DRL §170(7) eliminates the need for trials and presents a simple way for an unhappy spouse to end a marriage without having to present evidence of, inter alia, adultery, cruelty, or abandonment.

It seems, however, that grounds litigation may still be necessary—at least according to Justice Robert J. Muller of the Supreme Court of New York, Essex County. In Strack v. Strack,² Justice Muller ordered an immediate trial on the issue of whether or not a couple’s relationship had “broken down irretrievably for a period of at least six months” notwithstanding the fact that the wife had made the necessary sworn statements pursuant to DRL §170(7).³