When St.
Paul couples are in the midst of divorce proceedings, they have some control over
the personal details revealed in court and in divorce documents. Depending on
the circumstances of the divorce, financial information may be discussed during
the division of assets and spousal or child support negotiations; and character
qualities can come up during a custody dispute.
These
things depend on how contentious the divorce is and how a couple and their
attorneys choose to handle the divorce. In many cases, something that is
usually kept private is just what drove the couple to divorce. This is because
in Minnesota, as in the rest of the U.S., no-fault divorces are permitted. This
means that neither party must prove grounds for divorce, rather a couple can
end their marriage due to irreconcilable differences. Things work quite
differently in England, where couples often have to air their dirty laundry in
front of a judge to obtain a divorce.
According
to a recent New York Times article, ordinary annoying habits are often listed
in English divorce cases because, along with adultery and abandonment, English
couples can attempt to prove "unreasonable behavior" in their divorce
cases.
For
example, divorce petitions have included husbands' complaints about their wives
cooking skills; one man said his wife simply made tuna casserole, his least
favorite dish, way too often. Another man charged that his wife had a habit of
throwing away perfectly good cold cuts and tampering with the TV antenna. There
have also been complaints about husbands who have poor body odors or change TV
channels too fast.
As you
can imagine, some judges in England are becoming tired of evaluating these
seemingly mundane marriage quarrels, and there has been talk among legal
professional to reform the country's divorce laws.
Back in
Minnesota, couples do not need to worry about this. If your husband has an
aversion to picking his towels off the bathroom floor, or your wife has a habit
of yammering constantly while you are watching your favorite show--you can
leave those annoyances in the past, check "irreconcilable
differences" and move forward from there.
Source: New York Times, "Tuna Again? In Fault-Finding England, It's a Cause for Divorce,"
Sarah Lyall, April 7, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment