On a daily basis, I’ll go online and search for the latest in divorce news to see what people are talking about. Two recent stories were of particular note not for the facts involved but, rather, for the newsworthy legal outcomes. Each story is a reminder that in New Jersey almost every case proceeds on a no-fault basis, even though, on occasion, a spouse may want to proceed on a claim of adultery, extreme cruelty, or another fault-based ground depending on the situation.
U.K. Wife Denied Divorce after Forty Years of Marriage
In the first story out of the United Kingdom, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal from a woman seeking to divorce her husband after almost 40 years of marriage when they separated in 2015. The husband contested the petition (which apparently does not occur often) on the basis that the marriage was a success and that they still had a “few years” to enjoy together.
The wife’s application was denied because U.K. law provides that a quick divorce cannot be granted unless the party seeking the divorce claims adultery, desertion or “unreasonable behavior” by the other spouse. Otherwise, a divorce can only occur in the U.K. if the parties have lived apart for two years and the parties consent to the divorce, or, if one spouse objects, after five years of separation. In other words, since the husband was contesting the divorce the wife has no choice but to remain separated from him until 2020 for the divorce to occur.
North Carolina Man Ordered To Pay $9 Million to Man with Whose Wife He Had an Affair
The next story involves a boyfriend who was ordered to pay a husband approximately $9 million for having an affair with the husband’s wife. The award was comprised mostly of punitive damages designed to punish the boyfriend, and approximately $2 million in compensatory damages. The husband commenced a lawsuit with claims of criminal conversation, alienation of affection, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and assault and battery. He specifically claimed that after learning of the affair his business lost both revenue and an employee (the wife).
Wondering how this type of lawsuit can be possible? Well, in North Carolina a person can sue a someone with whom his or her spouse has engaged with outside of the marriage for alienation of affection, and for criminal conversation, which involves extramarital sexual acts. Interestingly, this type of law still remains on the books of five other states. Incredibly, the claims held because there was no proof that the parties’ marriage was failing prior to commencement of the extramarital relationship, and third person being sued need not even have meant to harm the marriage to be found liable.
What Happens in New Jersey?
Had these situations occurred in New Jersey, the results would have been very different. As I mentioned before, most divorces in New Jersey proceed on the no-fault grounds of irreconcilable differences where, after six months of such differences, it is no longer reasonable for the spouses to remain married. As a result, the wife in the first story would have been able to divorce her husband without issue and without having to wait out the five-year separation period. As for the North Carolina man wondering how he is going to pay $9 million to the jilted husband, such claims could not have been brought against him in New Jersey with any sort of legitimacy.
Ultimately, while fault can – on very rare occasions – come into play in a New Jersey divorce, it is almost always an irrelevant factor to the outcome other oftentimes playing a significant role in the spouses’ emotions. New Jersey, like most other states, is more focused on allowing people to move on with their lives without pointing fingers, and without the time and expense involved in having to address these types of issues.
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Robert Epstein is a partner in Fox Rothschild LLP’s Family Law Practice Group and practices throughout New Jersey. He can be reached at (973) 994-7526, or repstein@foxrothschild.com.
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