No-fault divorce reform would encourage healthy marriages
Part of the Divorce Reform Page
Letter to the Editor, Wall St. Journal, February 17, 1996
Other Crouch Articles
I must question The Hon. Jessie B. Gunther's opinion (Letters to the Editor,
page A11, Feb. 16) that "making divorce harder will only result in
fewer marriages." There is less incentive to enter a high-stakes
relationship when one knows that the other party will always be able to
disregard or abandon his commitment without facing serious legal obstacles
or even social condemnation. The present situation not only discourages
marriage, but also makes it less worthwhile to invest one's personal effort
in an existing marriage. Marriage is the only economic contract everyone
may break on a whim, without being held responsible for any damage to other
people who are involved.
That damage can be considerable. Divorce is often nasty, brutish, and long.
Having children becomes far more risky when you might have little role in
raising them. And if you are middle class, divorce will likely make you
poor. And in the common situation where one spouse - or his parents or new
girlfriend - has a little more money to pay for lawyers than the other does,
the richer spouse can always make the poorer one litigate until she can
no longer pay a lawyer. After that, the richer one can get anything he wants
in court. I am not exaggerating. As a divorce lawyer, I see this happen
every day. The divorce courts don't even pretend to be fair to people who
cannot get lawyers. So unless you are actually movie-star rich, or are jobless
and thus qualify for legal aid, or have no property to divide and don't
care if you have a role in raising your offspring, the possibility of nonconsensual
divorce presents a huge risk. It is a risk you should be allowed to control
by making binding contracts and following clear rules.
As things are now, prudent persons will only marry mates who they think
justify or lessen this undue risk. Even then, such judgments are imprecise
when there is so much freedom to misbehave. And even the soundest marriage
is nagged by the knowledge that adultery and divorce are always an option
for the other spouse, so that it is imprudent to invest all one's energies
in the marriage. Worse, each spouse knows that the other knows of this risk
and is probably hedging her bets accordingly.
Restricting divorce would discourage some marriages, but would encourage
others, and would make all marriages more secure and rewarding.
Sincerely,
John Crouch
Arlington, Virginia
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John Crouch
(703) 528-6700
Arlington, Virginia