Category: Divorce

Fighting A Fraudulent Divorce

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

In Louisiana’s Cajun country, a woman is fighting in a family court after finding out her husband of 12 years is trying to get away with a major fraudulent divorce scam. According to reports, her husband used a woman to impersonate his wife in order to get his divorce decree. What are some ways to protect yourself from a fraudulent divorce scam?

Divorce Fraud Bayou

Divorce Gris Gris

Teqela Mouton is going through a mix of emotions after learning her husband, Kendrick Paul Francis, was allegedly part of a scheme to get a fraudulent divorce from her. A worse surprise was finding out her husband’s friend, LaShonda Pope, allegedly impersonated her to obtain the divorce final judgment.

“The way I’m feeling right now is insane. I really don’t know how to feel that a person could actually steal your identity and get away with it.”

Mouton now lives in Texas where she and her husband have been married for 12 years in November. They have two children together, ages 9 and 14. Mouton said for the past two years, she has been traveling back and forth to the Acadiana region of Louisiana to gather information on how she ended up getting divorced without her noticing?

“My husband did not contact me, told me anything about he wanted to divorce me and didn’t tell me that he filed for a divorce. If he wanted a divorce, I would have given it to him.”

Mouton said she never received a summons and was not present in any court proceedings for the alleged divorce.

Florida Fraudulent Divorce

I have written on fraud in divorce before. But an actual imposter posing as you to get a divorce is a fraud that is not a common occurrence. But fraud can happen. Historically in Florida, a contrived, false or fraudulent grounds for a dissolution of marriage, and then terminating a marriage through fraud on the courts, was not tolerated. This is inherent in the judicial process.

Fraud could also take the form of misrepresentations, concealments or untruths by a spouse. Courts will not indulge or reward falsehoods, and when a fraud upon the other spouse, or on the court, is proved it would be a failure of proof that the marriage was irretrievably broken for instance.

In addition, courts can relieve a party from a final judgment of dissolution of marriage for fraud (whether heretofore denominated intrinsic or extrinsic), misrepresentation, or other misconduct of an adverse party under the rules of procedure. However, the motion must be filed within a reasonable time, and not more than 1 year after the judgment unless the motion is based on fraudulent financial affidavits in marital or paternity cases.

A Fraudulent Fais Do-Do

Mouton never received the paperwork, couldn’t get actual copies of the final judgment or pleadings, and the only thing the courthouse let her do was to look at the documents in the court file. She says that the documents she reviewed had a lot of incorrect information, from spelling of names, to children’s birthdays, to wrong addresses.

Then she saw where the summons was originally sent to, LaShonda Pope’s address in Abbeville, Louisiana even though Mouton had been living in the state of Texas since 2022. She gathered the information from the courthouse, and went to an attorney.

In a voice recording shared with local news in Louisiana, the imposter told Mouton:

“You have been divorced, it’s public record. Guess what you see that ring, guess what I’m about to be married to him next. So you can get ready. I’ll get you an invitation.”

According to the state of Louisiana, Mouton and her husband Francis are still married. St. Martin Parish considers the divorce decree to be fraudulent. The police have been involved. The imposter has had an arraignment at the Vermilion Parish courthouse, and is being charged with first-degree injuring public records. She has pled not guilty.

The KLFY article is here.

Divorce after Death in Japan and Florida

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

While rocky marriages in Florida may end in divorce, in Japan, there is a growing trend for couples to divorce after the death of one of the spouses. Many Florida divorce and family lawyers may not be aware of this Japanese concept of a posthumous divorce. Why is divorce after death growing in popularity in Japan and who is behind it?

Divorce After Death

Lost in Japan

Cases of divorce after death have been skyrocketing in Japan, more than doubling in just a decade. Studies have shown that women are overwhelmingly the ones filing to divorce their husband’s families after death. The reason comes down to cultural expectations toward wives in Japan.

The notion of a meddlesome in-law is a classic in western culture. But in Japan, they have an official process for severing one’s ties with a deceased spouse’s family called 死後離婚 (shigo rikon) in Japanese.

A shigo rikon is not a situation in which a spouse dies during the pendency of an ongoing divorce proceeding. A Japanese shigo rikon – is very different from your basic 離婚 (rikon, “divorce”). A rikon divorce can only be obtained while both spouses are still alive. This allows the surviving partner to inherit the deceased’s legacy and pension.

The technical term for a shigo rikon is “notification of marital relationship termination”, which means one is officially severing ties with the family of a deceased spouse. There are cases where a first-born might specifically leave their inheritance to their spouse in their will, at which time the person seeking the posthumous divorce would have to arrange a successor in the late spouse’s family first.

Even if a spouse is living with the in-laws at the time of the death, they would no longer have a legal obligation to take care of them. It becomes more of an ethical situation whether or not to continue doing so.

Florida Death and Divorce

I have written about divorce and Japan before. There is no similar process for a shigo rikon in Florida. It is the law in Florida that a marriage, being a purely personal relationship, is automatically terminated by the death of either spouse. The reason is simple: a dissolution of marriage action is a purely a personal action, so it cannot survive the death of either person in the marriage.

But, while a Florida divorce court loses jurisdiction if one of the spouses dies, if a final judgment of dissolution has been entered before the death of a spouse, the family court could keep its jurisdiction to determine property rights after the spouse’s death.

If you are involved in a divorce action, it is important to consider your estate planning documents and speak to a specialist in that area of law. While Florida does not prohibit you from amending your will or trust or changing beneficiary designations, some Florida jurisdictions have temporary standing orders impacting amendments to estate documents.

Big in Japan

A shigo rikon has no effect on your legal relationship with your deceased spouse. So, you can still keep your spouse’s surname and are still eligible for all inheritances, pensions, and insurance policies as they were before the posthumous divorce.

According to data from Japan’s Ministry of Justice, the number of posthumous divorces averages around 4,000 per year. Many of these cases use the divorce as a tool when spouses are dragged into inheritance disputes or other problems by order of the deceased’s will.

A shigo rikon shouldn’t be taken lightly though. It may not only impact relationships with in-laws, but could potentially impact relations between children and other relatives. Removing the responsibility for memorial services and grave upkeep may make it more difficult for a widow to participate in those services or visit his grave. And once the documents are filed, the process cannot be undone.

Despite those risks, shigo rikons are viewed as empowering for Japanese women, and an increase in the use of the process may demonstrate a change in family values and mindset in Japan.

The Sora News 24 article is here.

Transforming Nonmarital Property Into Marital Property

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

For many clients going through divorce, there is a concern that their nonmarital property can transform into marital property, and then get distributed by a court. Believe it or not, divorce lawyers know that in certain cases, it is easy for your nonmarital asset to be transformed into a marital one. One couple in north Florida found out how courts look at whether your nonmarital property has been transformed into a marital property during a divorce.

marital property

Defining Marital and Nonmarital Property

Understanding a little about Florida’s equitable distribution statute will help you protect your premarital assets from being wrongly divided. In Florida marital assets and liabilities include assets acquired and liabilities incurred during the marriage, individually by either spouse or jointly by them.

Many people forget that marital assets also include the enhancement in value and appreciation of nonmarital assets resulting either from the efforts of either party during the marriage or from the contribution to or expenditure thereon of marital funds or other forms of marital assets, or both.

Another area of transforming nonmarital assets into marital one is by gifts. Under Florida law, marital assets include gifts between spouses during the marriage.

Conversely, nonmarital assets and liabilities include things like assets acquired and liabilities incurred before the marriage, and assets acquired separately by either party by non-interspousal gift, bequest, devise, or descent. For example, an inheritance may initially be considered nonmarital property absent anything else.

Before a court will classify your assets as either marital or nonmarital, the court will consider numerous factors. One of the factors a court will look at is the title of the property. A court will also consider whether you commingled your marital funds with your nonmarital funds. Were there any increases in the value of your nonmarital stock accounts because of marital efforts, or control of the funds? If so, a court may consider that too. They will also look at the length of the marriage, and your intent concerning the marital or nonmarital status.

Transforming Marital Property

In a recent case in Florida’s panhandle, a husband and wife divorced. During the trial, the family judge added to the equitable distribution schedule one of the husband’s Certificate of Deposit accounts. However, there was no evidence that the CD account, which was acquired ten years before the marriage, had transformed into a marital asset.

On appeal, the appellate court reversed the decision. The appellate court found that there was no evidence at the trial that there was any enhancement of the CD account through the husband’s efforts. The court also noted that there was no evidence that the husband commingled his nonmarital funds with marital funds. Lastly, there was no evidence that he had given to his wife the CD account as a gift.

Gifts between spouses are an important and frequent way in which a nonmarital asset becomes a marital asset. Believe it or not, there are even cases in Florida where spouses accidentally gifted non-marital homes to their spouse by birthday card, not realizing they would be found to have the proper donative intent.

Florida’s New Anti-Gift Law

This year the law changed in Florida. The revised equitable distribution statute now prohibits interspousal gifts of real estate unless there is written documentation that complies with the provisions for conveyance of real property under the statute governing deeds to property.

The mere inference of a gift of real property will now not meet the threshold required for an interspousal gift unless there was written documentation for a conveyance.

The new law in Florida also makes it clear that when a spouse merely signs a deed for the sole purpose of conveying a homestead property – other than the other spouse or both spouses jointly – the deed does not change the character of the real property from nonmarital property to marital property.

Finally, the new amendment to the equitable distribution statute changes the definition of nonmarital assets and liabilities so that real property acquired separately through non-interspousal gift, bequest, devise, or descent and in which legal title has not been transferred to both parties as tenants in the entireties, remains non-marital property.

The appellate decision is here.

Big Update to Florida’s Property Division Law

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

There have been big updates to Florida’s property division law after Governor Ron DeSantis signed an important House Bill this month. Many divorce lawyers will be interested in the changes to the equitable distribution statute this bill makes and it can impact your divorce right now.

Property Division Law

Dividing up property in divorce

In every divorce case, courts have to equitably distribute of assets and liabilities between the parties. In order to do that, the court first has to evaluate what assets and liabilities exist, then determine which are “marital” and which are “non-marital.” A new law makes some interesting changes to what are marital and non-marital assets, and how to distribute them.

Marital assets include things like, any assets and debts acquired during the marriage, the enhancement of value and appreciation of non-marital assets due to the efforts of either spouse or the contribution of marital funds or other marital assets; interspousal gifts during the marriage; retirement, pension, profit-sharing, and other similar funds during the marriage

A court always starts with the premise that a distribution of marital assets and liabilities should be equal, unless there is justification for an unequal distribution based on certain factors.

The new bill tries to clarify different aspects of the equitable distribution process. For example, the bill clarifies what sort of circumstances justify an temporary partial distribution during a divorce, and even provides a list of factors for the court to use in making a determination on whether there is good cause to make a temporary partial distribution.

Can you give your house away as a gift?

Believe it or not, there were cases in Florida where spouses accidentally gifted non-marital homes to their spouse by Valentine’s Day card or birthdays cards not knowing they would be found to have the proper donative intent.

The new law now prohibits interspousal gifts of real estate unless there is written documentation that complies with the provisions for conveyance of real property under the statute governing deeds to property. The mere inference of a gift of real property will now not meet the threshold required for an interspousal gift unless there was written documentation for a conveyance.

The bill also makes it clear that when a spouse merely signs a deed for the sole purpose of conveying a homestead property – other than the other spouse or both spouses jointly – does not change the character of the real property.

Finally, the new law changes the definition of non-marital assets and liabilities so that real property acquired separately through non-interspousal gift, bequest, devise, or descent and in which legal title has not been transferred to both parties as tenants in the entireties, remains non-marital property.

How do you value the family business

Your small business can be a marital asset, and difficult to value. That’s  because of the concept of “goodwill.” Goodwill is that intangible value of your business above and beyond the value of its physical assets. Things like, your company’s brand, reputation, amount of loyal customers, employee relations, and proprietary technology are aspects of goodwill.

One kind of goodwill is called “enterprise goodwill”, the value that exists separate and apart from the reputation or continued presence of the spouse who owns the business. Enterprise goodwill is a marital asset equitably distributed in a divorce. On the other hand, “personal goodwill” is the goodwill attributable to the spouse, not to the business itself, and is not a marital asset. That begs the questions, what is and isn’t personal goodwill?

Under the new law, courts have to consider evidence that a non-compete clause or a similar restrictive covenant may be required upon the sale of the business. The law clarifies that the mere existence of a non-compete provision is not dispositive as to whether the goodwill is considered enterprise goodwill. So, even if the valuation of a business is based on the requirement for a non-compete contract, the court can still determine whether the goodwill is enterprise or personal and subject to equitable distribution.

The new law becomes effective July 1, 2024 and is available here.

Divorce while Pregnant

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Many couples and family lawyers find it odd that in some states you cannot get a divorce while pregnant. Missouri has one such law. Sure, you can still file for a dissolution of marriage while pregnant, but at least in Missouri, the court must wait until after birth to finalize child custody and child support. That law may change.

Divorce Pregnant

Show Me the Change

“It just doesn’t make sense in 2024,” said Rep. Ashley Aune, a Democrat representing District 14 in Platte County, Missouri. Aune introduced a bill this legislative session that essentially says pregnancy cannot prevent a judge from finalizing a divorce or separation. “I just want moms in difficult situations to get out if they need to,” she said.

Why do some states make expecting mothers wait? Some of the reasons include: resolving issues about paternity and establishing the father. Other states insist that adopting a visitation schedule over a newborn – before there’s a baby to even visit and the parents have established new residences – increases costs and judicial labor.

The same may be true in fixing the amount of child support. A court may want to avoid entering a child support order before there’s a child to support because, if parents lose or gain jobs, the support amount will have to be recalculated. Along the same lines, some children may be born with special needs. A court would want to know if the baby is born with an illness, disability, or other condition that requires extra parental attention or generates high doctor bills.

There are other reasons to hold off or prohibit finalizing a divorce. What if the mother has twins? Moreover, courts don’t have authority to make orders affecting unborn babies. Once a baby is born, it’s legally a person and a state resident.

Florida Divorce and Pregnancy

Being pregnant during a divorce adds a great deal of complexity to the process. The official term for divorce in Florida is “dissolution of marriage”, and you don’t need fault as a ground for divorce. Florida abolished fault as a ground for divorce.

I’ve written about divorce issues before. The no-fault concept in Florida means you no longer have to prove a reason for the divorce, like your husband’s alleged infidelity with a congresswoman. Instead, you just need to state under oath that your marriage is “irretrievably broken.”

There is no explicit prohibition against dissolving a marriage while a spouse is pregnant. If a spouse is pregnant, this fact must be included in the petition for dissolution of marriage when filed.  While it is unlikely a court would dissolve a marriage before the child is born, there may be situations where a divorce can be granted. For example, a court could dissolve a marriage while a woman is pregnant if the husband is not the father to the child and the biological father is involved through establishing paternity and financial responsibility for the child.

A Legislative Touchdown?

So what changed in Missouri? During a committee hearing earlier this month, Aune said one woman shared a powerful testimony regarding an abusive situation she was in while pregnant:

“Not only was she being physically and emotionally abused but there was reproduction coercion used. When she found out she was pregnant and asked a lawyer if she could get a divorce, she was essentially told no. It was so demoralizing for her to hear that. She felt she had no options.”

A report from Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services states that out of 10,098 women surveyed between 2007 and 2014, nearly 5% were abused either before or during pregnancy. That equates to about 500 women.

Many feel a change in Missouri’s law could literally save lives. For example, abusive partners, they might be using reproductive coercion and control to keep their partner pregnant so that they can’t ever actually be granted a divorce.

The new bill in Missouri currently states:

“Pregnancy status shall not prevent the court from entering a judgment of dissolution of marriage or legal separation.”

However, the bill is still gestating in the Missouri legislature.

The Fox59 article is here.

Reducing Divorce Waiting Periods

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

With many countries and U.S. states, having divorce waiting periods, the District of Columbia’s recent legislation, which is reducing its waiting period, is big news. The D.C. Council gave unanimous approval to legislation that eliminated long waiting periods to file for divorce. The waiting period was considered especially harmful to survivors of domestic violence filing for divorce.

divorce waiting period

Waiting in Vain

D.C. law previously allowed a couple to divorce after six months of living separately, only if both parties mutually and voluntarily agreed to it. If a spouse contested the divorce, D.C. law required the couple to remain legally married for a year. Now if one spouse wants a divorce, they can file for one at any time — without any waiting period.

“It made no sense at all that someone might be chained to their abuser or their partner when they didn’t want to be. This was a common sense reform that allows people to move on with their lives and also provide some extra supports for survivors of domestic violence.”

The D.C. Council unanimously approved the bill in November 2023, and the new law took effect last week. The new D.C. law also requires judges to consider domestic violence history, including physical, emotional and financial abuse, when determining alimony or property distribution and it explicitly allows judges to award exclusive use of a family home to either spouse while awaiting litigation.

Florida Divorce Waiting Period

I’ve written about divorce waiting periods, and your rights in divorce before. Like the District of Columbia and other U.S. states, Florida also has a divorce waiting period of sorts. In Florida, no final judgment of dissolution of marriage may be entered until at least 20 days have elapsed from the date of filing the original petition for dissolution of marriage.

 The thinking behind waiting periods in Florida reflects the protective regard Florida holds toward the preservation of marriage and a public policy that marriage is the foundation of home and family.

In some cases the waiting period is longer. For instance, no dissolutions in Florida are allowed in cases of an incapacitated spouse unless the party alleged to be incapacitated has been adjudged incapacitated for a preceding period of at least 3 years. However, the court, on a showing that injustice would result from this delay, may enter a final judgment of dissolution of marriage at an earlier date.

Tired of Waiting

This change to the D.C. law will eliminate one of the many barriers people face when leaving abusive partners. The up-to-one year waiting period, which was established in the 1970s, was considered by many to be outdated and paternalistic.

Half of all states have a waiting period between the filing of divorce papers and when the marriage is legally dissolved, which can range from six months to even longer in some states. But why?

It has long been a recognized public policy by many states that encouraging and preserving the institution of marriage was a societal benefit. These days that notion may seem like an anachronistic legal concept. But the public policy underlying the presumption that marriage is a good institution still exists in many state statutes. Delaying a divorce then, comes from the theory that a couple, if they had more time, could preserve their marriage.

The Washington Post article is here.

January is Divorce Month

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Men’s Journal magazine is currently reporting that – while there may be no “good” time to divorce – many people have started to call January the “divorce month.” Why? Because January is when there is a big increase in couples filing for divorce and child custody, or just scheduling appointments to speak with divorce and family lawyers.

January Divorce Month

Happy New Year

The timing is certainly no coincidence. January follows a busy holiday season. During this time, many people make New Year’s resolutions, which may cause you to want to hit the “reset button.”

“The pressure of the Christmas period where people are being exposed to their families and in-laws, often is the catalyst for people making the decision to end their marriages.”

Beyond dealing with extended family, there are a lot of financial pressures which can also be a “huge stressor” for families around this time of year. Add in inflation and the current cost-of-living, the holiday season can be difficult.

Many people also use January as a period of reflection because they are on holiday from work, and have the time to think about what is going on in life and what they might like to change.

The cold and holidays also forces many couples in close proximity with extended family. Many people are pushed toward a ‘new year, new me’ mindset because they are spending more time with their significant others, spouses, and family than any other period throughout the year.

Florida No-Fault Divorce

The official term for divorce in Florida is “dissolution of marriage”, and you don’t need fault as a ground for divorce. Florida abolished fault as a ground for divorce.

I’ve written about no fault divorce and statistics about divorce – such as the January divorce month phenomenon – before. The no-fault concept in Florida means you no longer have to prove a reason for the divorce, like your husband’s alleged infidelity with a congresswoman. Instead, you just need to state under oath that your marriage is “irretrievably broken.”

Before the no-fault divorce era, people who wanted to get divorce either had to reach agreement in advance with the other spouse that the marriage was over, or throw mud at each other and prove wrongdoing like adultery or abuse.

No-fault laws were the result of trying to change the way divorces played out in court. No fault laws have reduced the number of feuding couples who felt the need to resort to distorted facts, lies, and the need to focus the trial on who did what to whom.

New Year, New You

In a University of Washington study, researchers analyzed filings in Washington state and found that divorces consistently peaked in March and August.

Associate sociology professor Julie Brines, who co-authored the study, says that winter and summer holidays are typically seen as “culturally sacred times for families,” and that filing for divorce can be seen as inappropriate, or even taboo, during these times.

Many couples ostensibly might think that spending Christmas together or taking the family on a summer vacation might help smooth over any marital troubles.

People tend to face the holidays with rising expectations, despite what disappointments they might have had in years past. They represent periods in the year when there’s the anticipation or the opportunity for a new beginning, a new start, something different, a transition into a new period of life. It’s like an optimism cycle, in a sense.

In any case, January is here. Happy new year.

The Men’s Journal article is here.

Divorce, Family Law and Constitutional Rights

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Today is September 17th: Constitution Day. For anyone involved in divorce and family law cases, your Constitutional rights are always at risk. In New Jersey that was recently proved when a family judge restrained a woman from posting a video about her husband’s refusal to give her a religious divorce.

Divorce Constitution

Gotta Get a Get

On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the last time to sign the document they created. Written 236 years ago, the U.S. Constitution is still the country’s most important legal instrument – even impacting people going through a simple divorce today.

For many Americans, religion plays an important part of finalizing their divorce. All three major monotheistic religions require a religious divorce to remarry within the faith. Without a religious divorce, a second marriage will not be recognized.

Agunot refers to Jewish women who are separated from their husbands but unable to obtain a legal Jewish divorce, leaving them barred from remarriage under Judaism’s adultery laws. One New Jersey woman denied a “Get” – a jewish divorce – decided to take matters into her own hands. She posted a video accusing her estranged husband of improperly withholding a get, and asking community members to “press” her husband to give the get.

After the video was made, the husband obtained a restraining order based on a domestic violence complaint alleging harassment. He testified that he received numerous phone calls from unknown numbers, a photograph of himself identifying him as a “get refuser” and calling on others to “tell him to free his wife.” Additionally, he was adamant that he was not a get refuser.

The trial judge found that the communication was “invasive” of the husband’s privacy, holding:

“one cannot hide behind the First Amendment when that communication is invasive of the recipient’s privacy.”

The trial judge entered a temporary restraining order against the Wife’s video and she appealed.

Florida and Constitutional Rights

I’ve written about the intersection of the U.S. Constitution and divorce cases before. This Constitution Day it is important to understand that family courts have a lot of power which can impact your constitutional rights.

Unlike the U.S. Constitution, the Florida Constitution has an express right of privacy clause in it. Florida courts have interpreted the Florida Constitution to afford even greater privacy rights than those in the U.S. Constitution.

Accordingly, Florida courts have to carefully balance a parent’s constitutional right against the state’s interests. When the matter involves religious beliefs, family courts generally do not make decisions in favor of a specific religion over the objection of the other parent. The court should also avoid interference with the right of a parent to practice their own religion and avoid imposing an obligation to enforce the religious beliefs of the other parent.

First Amendment Gets Going

On appeal, the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division held that the wife’s video was constitutionally protected speech. The appellate court vacated the temporary restraining order holding: a “general history” of violence was insufficient to vitiate First Amendment protections.

The video, whether viewed on its own or in the context in which it was disseminated, does not fall outside the First Amendment’s protection. Recall that the trial judge had concluded that the video was not protected by the First Amendment because members of the Jewish community would respond violently to plaintiff being identified as a get refuser.

However, the trial judge’s reliance on an unspecified general history of violent treatment to which get refusers were subjected was insufficient to render the wife’s video a true threat or an imminent danger to satisfy the incitement requirement.

To qualify as incitement and lose First Amendment protection a communication must be both “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and . . . likely to incite or produce such action.”

The New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division opinion is here.

Beautiful No Fault Divorce

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Divorce lawyers hear many reasons for filing for divorce. “My spouse is too beautiful”, however, is a new one. But it does not matter as most states abolished fault as a ground for divorce. But in some state legislatures there is an effort to overturn our system of no-fault divorce.

beauty no fault divorce

In the eye of the beholder

A prominent right-wing commentator, Steven Crowder, is making waves this month after he complained his ex-wife started the divorce process on her own. Crowder emphasized the divorce was against his will, and is blaming the no-fault system of divorce:

“Since 2021, I’ve been living through what has become a horrendous divorce. . . This was not my choice. My then wife decided she didn’t want to be married anymore. And, in the state of Texas, that is completely permitted.”

Crowder’s comments come on the back of recent proposals by state legislatures to overturn no-fault divorce laws on the books in Texas, Nebraska, and Louisiana. The repeal of no-fault divorce would hit Zambian husband, Arnold Masuka, hard.

Masuka has taken the extraordinary step of seeking the dissolution of his marriage because his wife is exceptionally beautiful.

This surprising revelation left officials and witnesses in awe at a local court in the Zambian capital city of Lusaka. The newspaper, Zambian Observer, reported that during the divorce proceedings, Masuka shocked those present in court when he candidly expressed to the judge that his wife, Hilda Muleya, possessed a beauty that had caused him countless sleepless nights.

The sheer allure of his wife had become an overwhelming source of anxiety for him, leading him to make this unconventional request. Masuka explained to the court that he lived in a state of perpetual fear, constantly worried about the possibility of losing his wife to another man.

Florida No-Fault Divorce

The official term for divorce in Florida is “dissolution of marriage”, and you don’t need fault as a ground for divorce. Florida abolished fault as a ground for divorce. Interestingly, given the recent attack on no-fault divorce, it was former Governor Ronald Reagan of California who signed the nation’s first no-fault divorce bill.

The no fault divorce law eliminated the need for couples to fabricate spousal wrongdoing in pursuit of a divorce; indeed, one likely reason for Reagan’s decision to sign the bill was that his first wife, Jane Wyman, had unfairly accused him of “mental cruelty” to obtain a divorce in 1948.

I’ve written about divorce and infidelity issues before. The no-fault concept in Florida means you no longer have to prove a reason for the divorce, like your wife’s exceptional beauty. Instead, you just need to state under oath that your marriage is “irretrievably broken.”

Before the no-fault divorce era, people who wanted to get divorce either had to reach agreement in advance with the other spouse that the marriage was over or throw mud at each other and prove wrongdoing like adultery or abuse.

No-fault laws were the result of trying to change the way divorces played out in court. No fault laws have reduced the number of feuding couples who felt the need to resort to distorted facts, lies, and the need to focus the trial on who did what to whom.

Lost in Lusaka

Masuka’s increasing fear of his wife’s beauty had grown so intense, that he found himself hesitating to leave his wife Hilda unattended. He stopped going to work, and was totally consumed by the nagging thought that his wife might be lured away by other suitors.

In Masuka’s eyes, Hilda, originally from Gokwe, Zimbabwe, was the epitome of beauty. Among all the women he had encountered in his life, none had captivated him quite like her. This powerful attraction had become both a blessing and a burden, fueling his insecurity and prompting him to take this unusual legal recourse.

As the court listened attentively to Masuka’s heartfelt plea, it became evident that his intentions were driven by genuine concern for his wife’s well-being. However, whether the dissolution of their marriage was a viable solution remained to be seen.

Ultimately, the fate of Arnold Masuka’s marriage rests in the hands of the court, which will consider the implications of his request for dissolution.

The Nigeria World article is here.

Divorce Waiting Period

Posted by Ron Kauffman on

Many U.S. states, including Florida, have a waiting period before you can divorce your spouse. In India, the Supreme Court just ruled that it can enter a divorce without a waiting period in cases of irretrievable breakdown of marriage.

Divorce Waiting Period

India Divorce Waiting Period

The Supreme Court’s judgment relates to a 2014 case filed in the top court, titled Shilpa Sailesh vs. Varun Sreenivasan, where the parties sought a divorce under Article 142 of the Indian Constitution.

The procedure to obtain a divorce by mutual consent is laid down in Indian law, which states that both parties can file a petition for dissolution of their marriage by presenting a decree of divorce to the district court, on the grounds that they have been living separately for a year or more or that they have not been able to live together or have mutually agreed to dissolve their marriage.

However, both parties seeking divorce have to wait between 6 to 18 months from the date on which they presented their petition to obtain the divorce decree. The waiting period for divorce is given so that the parties have ample time to withdraw their plea.

After the passage of the mandated period and hearing both parties, if the court is satisfied, it may conduct an inquiry and pass a decree of divorce, dissolving the marriage with effect from the date of the decree. However, these provisions apply when at least one year has elapsed since the marriage took place.

Additionally, divorce can be sought by either spouse on grounds like adultery, cruelty, desertion, religious conversion, insanity, leprosy, venereal disease, renunciation, and presumption of death. In circumstances of exceptional hardship or depravity, a divorce petition may be allowed under Section 14, even before the lapse of one year since marriage.

Florida Divorce Waiting Period

I’ve written about divorce waiting periods, and your rights in divorce before. Like India and other states, Florida also has a divorce waiting period of sorts. Although it’s not as long as other states  or India’s six to 18 month policy. In Florida, no final judgment of dissolution of marriage may be entered until at least 20 days have elapsed from the date of filing the original petition for dissolution of marriage.

The thinking behind waiting periods in Florida reflects the protective regard Florida holds toward the preservation of marriage and a public policy that marriage is the foundation of home and family.

In some cases the waiting period is longer. For instance, no dissolutions in Florida are allowed in cases of an incapacitated spouse unless the party alleged to be incapacitated has been adjudged incapacitated for a preceding period of at least 3 years. However, the court, on a showing that injustice would result from this delay, may enter a final judgment of dissolution of marriage at an earlier date.

Patience is a virtue, impatience a vice

In India, the mandatory six-month waiting period under can also be waived by filing an exemption application before a family court in a motion for the court to pass a decree of divorce. The high court has ruled:

“Where there is a chance of reconciliation, however slight, the cooling period of six months from the date of filing of the divorce petition should be enforced. However, if there is no possibility of reconciliation, it would be meaningless to prolong the agony of the parties to the marriage.”

Accordingly, if a marriage has broken down irretrievably, the spouses have been living apart for a long time unable to reconcile their differences, and then they mutually decided to part, it is better to end the marriage to enable both spouses to move on with their lives, the court said.

While the parties can approach the family courts for initiation of divorce proceedings, this process is often time-consuming and lengthy, owing to a large number of similar cases pending before such courts. If the parties wish to opt for a divorce more expeditiously, they can approach the Supreme Court for the dissolution of their marriage.

The Indian Supreme Court also aims to clarify whether the application of its powers would extend to all divorce cases; and whether it could be used in cases where one of the parties is not consenting to the divorce. For this, the court appointed senior advocates for assistance in the case.

The Indian Express article is here.