British Divorce Downright "uncivil"

            BRITISH DIVORCE…GUILTY TO A FAULT!

            “I want a divorce, and let me tell you why!” As a Florida family law and divorce attorney for nearly 28 years,  I often hear these words, or some variation on this theme, when a prospective client calls.   Although the Law Office of Cindy S. Vova, P.A. knows that listening to a client and caring about his or her family situation is an important part of the divorce and healing process, it is not important to the court.  In Florida, and that includes Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and every other county, parties need not cite to the court a “reason” for wanting a divorce other than that they have “irreconcilable differences.”  These “irreconcilable differences can be as innocuous as a husband (or wife, I suppose) leaving the toilet seat up, to waking up one morning with the epiphany that one does not wish to spend the rest of his life with the person lying next to him (presumably his wife).

 

            In fact, according to an April 8, 2012 New York Times article, New York was the last bastion of “fault” divorce, and even New York abolished this requirement in 2010. Thus, every state in this country has some form of no-fault divorce.

 

            So, the obvious question springing from this is, “Doesn’t ‘no fault’ divorce make it too easy to get a divorce?”  Well, let’s consider the alternative...a divorce requiring “grounds.”  The United Kingdom still requires a party requesting a divorce to set forth and actually establish, to the satisfaction of the Court, that grounds exist.  According to the Times, under British law, five categories exist under which where the court may grant a divorce.  These include:

            • Adultery (pretty obvious)

            • Abandonment (relatively obvious), and

            • “Unreasonable Behavior”

 

Now, having probably represented parties in around 800 divorce cases, and having served as a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator in another 200 cases, I can tell you that nearly EVERY CASE contains some of what I, personally, would call “unreasonable behavior.”   That is, in part, because divorce is such an emotionally charged situation where even the most rational of individuals sometimes crack under the emotional and financial pressures that occur in divorces.

 

            In the UK, however, alleging “grounds” for a divorce adds yet another layer of emotional, and, dare I say financial strain, that, according to the New York Times article, raises the level of absurdity in pleadings to be reminiscent of, in my humble opinion, a 1970s Monty Python skit.   For example, per the article, spouses have alleged that:

 

• A wife was mandated by her husband to dress and speak as a Klingon (wonder if Star Trek originally ran on BBC 1 or BBC 2)

 

• The serial abuse of repeated tuna casserole dinners (based on the cuisine I’ve had in England that, arguably, may have been an upgrade)

 

            • “Spiteful tampering with the TV antenna” (could cable have saved that marriage?)

 

                        • A husband who “usurped” the wife’s control of the washing machine (that might have been grounds to SAVE the marriage)

 

• A wife who “without justification , flirted with any builder or tradesman” (I would guess her “justification” was that her husband couldn’t fix a “bloody” thing)

 

• A husband who insisted that Timmy, his pet tarantula, sleep next to the bed in a glass case (hey, at least he didn’t insist it sleep on the pillow sans cage), and

 

• A husband who insisted on controlling the television remote (okay, so if this passed muster in a British court, I guess every wife in America would have grounds for divorce, particularly during football season)

 

I can only wonder what “fault” was plead in Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana’s petition for divorce....

 

                 So why am I urging the British to abolish this arcane requirement to grant a divorce?  Although the legal system in the United States is modeled after the common law system we adopted from our friends across the pond (except of course Louisiana, that follows the French civil system, and caused me not to apply to Tulane Law School out of fear I’d have to learn more useless stuff..thank you Emory for having me!), it is time for the British to take a lesson from us.  No fault divorce does make divorce easier...when a marriage should end...It eliminates the need for people to write hurtful, silly and damaging allegations in their divorce petitions, let alone spend the time, effort expense and embarrassment of attempting to prove these allegations before a court. 

           

            Since Florida requires neither spouse to plead or prove this unreasonableness, nor, for the most part, does adultery play a role in the Courtroom, attorneys representing divorcing parties can concentrate on those matters that require “reasonableness,” specifically issues involving time sharing and a workable parenting plan with the children, equitable distribution of marital assets and debts, whether alimony is appropriate and, if so, whether the alimony should be bridge-the-gap, rehabilitative, durational, lump sum or permanent periodic, and child support.

 

            If there appears to be no chance to “save” a marriage, then at our firm we concentrate on amicably resolving these issues as expeditiously as possible, and not spending our clients’ money investigating affairs, and providing evidence to the court of Timmy Tarantula’s sleeping arrangements!

 

            Call us.  We are happy to listen to about your spouse’s unreasonable behavior.  We are sympathetic to what you may have endured.  However, we will help you move forward to the future, perhaps boldly going where you’ve not been before....but not aboard the Starship Enterprise.

 

Cindy S. Vova

Law Office of Cindy S. Vova, P.A.

8551 West Broward Boulevard

Suite 301

Plantation, FL 33322

(954)316-3496

info@vovalaw.com