The Changing Landscape of Divorce

In the recent case of Molinari v. Molinari, 2007 N.Y. Slip Op. 50781 (Sup. Ct., Nassau Co., 4/16/07) (Ross, J), Supreme Court Justice Robert Ross, head of Nassau County's Matrimonial Part, initially challenged the legislature to pass no-fault legislation by staying rendering judgment in the parties' fault trial until the legislature ruled on the pending legislation. The husband had sought the divorce based on the ground of constructive abandonment. He was unable to prove this ground, and his wife contested the divorce, presumably to gain concessions from him on the economic issues. This is a common ploy in New York in situations in which fault is difficult or too costly to prove (having to prove fault can raise the cost of obtaining a divorce in New York significantly and even put it out of reach of people with insufficient means). This is one of the major reasons no-fault laws have been repeatedly proposed. When it became clear that the legislation had once again stalled in the legislature, Judge Ross ruled against the husband and denied the divorce, thereby making any hearing of the economic issues moot.