Although New York enacted no-fault divorce more than 15 months ago, some matrimonial judges continue to require hearings regarding the grounds for divorce. Today, NY divorce attorney Marc A. Rapaport called upon the New York legislature to enact legislation that would prohibit New York divorce judges from requiring testimony regarding grounds in no fault divorce cases.

New York, NY (PRWEB) January 30, 2012

Today, New York divorce attorney Marc A. Rapaport called upon New York’s Legislature to enact legislation to amend New York’s no-fault divorce statute. Rapaport’s proposed amendment would ensure that a plaintiff’s written declaration attesting to existence of irreconcilable differences would constitute the sole proof needed for a judgment of divorce in all New York no fault divorce cases.

Rapaport’s proposal is intended to put an end to the practice of some matrimonial judges of requiring hearings regarding grounds in contested no-fault cases. In an article that was posted today on NewYorkDivorce411.com, Rapaport described such hearings, in which a spouse is required to prove that a marital relationship was sufficiently “broken”, as “anachronistic and embarrassing.” According to Rapaport, when New York enacted no-fault divorce more than 15 months ago, it was widely anticipated that New York matrimonial litigants would be spared the embarrassment of disclosing the most intimate details of their marital relationships to complete strangers in open court. Rapaport states, “The passage of no fault divorce in New York was clearly intended to end litigation regarding the adequacy of grounds for divorce.”

Although New York’s no-fault divorce statute became effective in October, 2011, some New York matrimonial judges continue to require that litigants in contested cases undergo the humiliating, expensive, and time-consuming ordeal of hearings in which the plaintiff-spouse is has to demonstrate that their marriage is irretrievably broken. The continued occurred of such hearings, which are referred to as “grounds trials” by lawyers, has generated outcry among New York matrimonial attorneys.

The New York Divorce Reform Act of 2010 was passed by the New York Legislature in July, 2010. At that time, the New York Legislature explained that no-fault divorce as intended to eliminate the need for hearings in which divorcing couples were required to “rehash the bitter, painful and embarrassing reasons for divorce.”

In his article posted on NewYorkDivorce411, Rapaport called upon NY’s legislature to “amend Section 170(7) of the Domestic Relations Law with the addition of language stating that a spouse’s declaration, under oath, that a marriage is ‘irretrievably broken’ constitutes sufficient and incontrovertible proof of such irreconcilable differences.” According to Rapaport, the addition of that single sentence would relegate grounds trials in New York divorce cases “to the dustbin of divorce history.”

Marc Rapaport is the founder and principal of Rapaport Law Firm, a matrimonial law firm based in Manhattan’s Empire State Building. Rapaport Law Firm handles divorce cases and family law matters throughout New York and New Jersey.

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Marc A. Rapaport
Rapaport Law Firm PLLC
(212) 382-1600
Email Information

Article source: http://news.yahoo.com/york-divorce-lawyer-marc-rapaport-calls-upon-legislature-105140810.html

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