Rep. Kristine Howard (D-167) is calling on House members to join her in co-sponsoring legislation to “modernize” divorce law by making it easier to dissolve the marriage union in Pennsylvania.
“Pennsylvania’s current divorce law is a disgrace,” Howard said in a House memorandum Wednesday. “Couples wishing to divorce must navigate a legal code established for the express purpose of preventing divorce. Endless barriers, ranging from forcible counseling to excessive fees, and, of course, the need to present the case to the Court of Common Pleas, a perpetually overworked level of our judiciary, result in unconscionable delays.”
Howard said current law forces people to “stay in bad marriages and prevents them from remarrying as their prior relationships remain in legal limbo.”
She aims to introduce legislation to “substantially rewrite” the present divorce code and allow all divorces to be granted by a minor court at the request of either partner “for any reason.” Disputed issues such as custody and property division can be addressed by a higher court, Howard said.
Prior to the 1960s, no-fault divorce laws in the United States were virtually non-existent. In 1969 Republican Ronald Reagan, then governor of California, signed the nation’s first no-fault divorce bill. He would later say it was one of the biggest mistakes of his political career.
