With a new presidential administration incoming, conversations about policy changes abound in almost any category directly affected by legislation. One of these areas up for discussion is the possible repeal of no-fault divorce laws in certain states. 

While the newly-minted Trump administration has not made any official indications that it intends to encourage significant changes to divorce laws, some citizens have expressed concern because of comments made by Vice President-elect JD Vance, who suggested that divorces are too easy to obtain throughout the country. Furthermore, in certain states, Republican candidates have run on platforms that include the removal of no-fault divorce provisions. With this issue on the table, many people are wondering how a change in existing no-fault divorce laws will affect their marital, familial, and personal lives.

Attorney Kirk Stange of the Stange Law Firm has over two decades of experience in providing legal services related to divorce and family law. His legal practice has a significant presence in his home state of Missouri, along with several other states, including Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Indiana, and Iowa. Stange Law Firm also plans to open locations in Houston, Texas, and Louisville, Kentucky, in 2025. He has helped clients with issues including paternity, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and the dissolution of marriages. Stange says that his instincts, honed through years of experience in these fields, tell him that repealing no-fault divorce would be a mistake. He says it would make divorce nastier and uglier while also backing up court dockets due to a massive increase in divorce litigation.

Stange explains, “No-fault divorce has been the norm in the United States for decades. With no-fault divorce, parties can get divorced due to irreconcilable differences. Requiring fault to get divorced would upend how divorce works in the United States.”

While political efforts to make no-fault divorce a thing of the past may be motivated by a desire to protect traditional marriage and encourage couples to save their marriages, removing no-fault divorce may actually do more harm both to the couples involved and their children. 

Stange observes, “While those who believe in traditional marriage may believe too many individuals get divorced, requiring fault is a mistake. Forcing individuals to stay married unless there is fault would only encourage individuals who want to get divorced to engage in bad behavior such as adultery, domestic violence, mental cruelty, and abandonment.”

Stange also points out that removing no-fault divorce would also make things more difficult for other citizens hoping to see their legal issues resolved quickly in an already overloaded family court system.

He concludes, “Requiring fault would often require a hearing before a family court where parties are airing their dirty laundry to get divorced. Such proceedings would be a never-ending finger-pointing episode of each party blaming each other for the breakdown of the marriage and family court judges having to assess fault to grant a divorce.”

At the end of the day, the consequences of repealing no-fault divorce may be too important and far-reaching to ignore. The most significant effects that this change in legislation would have all stem from requiring divorcees to prove fault in a court of law before they are allowed to legally dissolve their marriages. Proving fault in a marriage in front of a judge can be tough, messy, and emotionally taxing. Furthermore, the highly emotional and sordid discussions that would happen before courts would push courts to their absolute limits. 

For this reason, legislators should think long and hard before pushing the repeal of no-fault divorce as a solution to the perceived short shelf life of marriages in America. Such a shift in policy could fundamentally alter the landscape of family law, leading to longer, more contentious legal proceedings that place additional strain on families and an already overburdened court system.