New York Divorce Report - New York's Divorce and Family Law Blog

The absence of no fault divorce in New York has many unintended and unfortunate consequences. Perhaps the single most disturbing consequence is that divorce courts are forced to accept as true, testimony known to be false. That is, as one trial judge, recently pointed out, “it forces judges and special referees who preside over these cases to in effect turn a blind eye — or at least a myopic one — to what is technically perjury.” In the case of Andrew T. v. Yanna T, the husband was granted an uncontested divorce from his wife on the ground of constructive... More

Because New York remains the only state in the country that does not provide for a no-fault divorce, creative lawyers have been forced to “push the envelope” to develop theories using the statutorily recognized grounds of divorce-abandonment, adultery, cruel and inhuman treatment, imprisonment, and constructive abandonment. In one recent case, the wife alleged that she had been “socially abandoned” by her husband. In Davis v. Davis, the wife of 41 years claimed that her husband: . . .refused to engage in social interaction with the wife by refusing to celebrate with her or acknowledge Valentine's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the... More

Despite overwhelming support to adopt a no-fault or irreconcilable grounds for divorce, New York remains the only state in which a party must allege and prove marital fault in order to obtain a divorce. By far, the most common fault based ground for divorce in New York is constructive abandonment. In the recent case of Mehl v. Mehl, the Appellate Division defined the elements of this ground for divorce. It is well settled that to establish a cause of action for a divorce on the ground of constructive abandonment, the spouse who claims to have been constructively abandoned must prove... More