The end of no-fault divorce is being debated in several state legislatures, but as of 2026 no state has actually repealed it, and filing for divorce without proving your spouse did anything wrong remains available everywhere in the United States.1Justia. No-Fault vs. Fault Divorce Under State Laws Bills to repeal or restrict no-fault divorce have been introduced in states including Oklahoma and Texas, and the idea has moved into some conservative political platforms, but every proposal so far has stalled. The stakes of the debate are real, though. If a repeal ever passed, the practical consequences would fall hardest on abuse survivors and on spouses without the money to fund contested litigation.
Where Repeal Efforts Actually Stand
No state has passed legislation ending no-fault divorce. The movement is still at the bill-introduction stage.
In January 2024, Oklahoma Senator Dusty Deevers introduced Senate Bill 1958, which would have required spouses to prove fault, such as adultery or abandonment, before obtaining a divorce. It did not pass. Texas House Bill 3401 would have removed “insupportability,” the state’s no-fault ground, from the Texas Family Code, leaving only fault-based reasons. That bill also failed to advance.
The pattern has been consistent. Lawmakers introduce a bill, it draws media attention and debate, and it stalls. No-fault divorce is used by the overwhelming majority of divorcing couples, and polling has generally shown broad public support for keeping it available. Even in conservative-leaning states, sympathetic legislators run into the practical problems the bills create.
One point worth clarifying: repeal proposals are not about adding fault-based divorce as an option. Many states already offer both. A spouse who was cheated on or abused can currently choose to file on fault grounds if they believe it will strengthen their position on alimony or property division.1Justia. No-Fault vs. Fault Divorce Under State Laws What repeal would do is take away the no-fault path, leaving proving wrongdoing as the only route out unless both spouses agree to end the marriage.
What You Would Have to Prove Under a Fault-Only System
Under the current no-fault system, either spouse can end the marriage by telling the court the relationship is irreparably broken. Typical grounds are “irreconcilable differences” or “irretrievable breakdown of the marriage.”1Justia. No-Fault vs. Fault Divorce Under State Laws No accusation is required, and one spouse cannot block the divorce by refusing to agree. Many states attach a waiting or separation period of anywhere from about 60 days to over a year before the divorce can be finalized.
If no-fault were repealed, the filing spouse would need to prove specific misconduct. The traditional grounds vary by state but generally include:
- Adultery
- Cruelty, meaning a pattern of physical or severe emotional abuse
- Desertion for a legally specified period
- Felony conviction resulting in a significant prison sentence
- Habitual drunkenness or drug addiction
- Concealed physical incapacity to have sexual intercourse
The hard part was never the list. It was the proving. A court that found the evidence insufficient could deny the divorce and leave the couple legally married.2Legal Information Institute. Fault Divorce Cruelty claims required witnesses, medical records, or other corroboration. Adultery cases sometimes involved private investigators. Couples who simply grew apart, or whose problems didn’t fit a recognized ground, sometimes couldn’t divorce at all.
The Cost of a Contested Fault Case
Contested fault-based divorces are dramatically more expensive than uncontested no-fault proceedings. When one spouse must build a legal case proving the other’s misconduct, both sides typically need attorneys for extended litigation, expert witnesses, and multiple court appearances. The gap between a straightforward no-fault divorce and a contested fault case can easily run into tens of thousands of dollars.
That burden is not distributed evenly. A spouse who is financially dependent on the other, often the spouse who gave up career opportunities to raise children, would face the steepest barrier. Funding a contested case requires resources that the economically weaker spouse may not have, especially if the higher-earning partner controls the household finances.
Why Abuse Survivors Are at the Center of the Debate
Under a fault-only system, someone being abused would need to prove that abuse to a court’s satisfaction before they could legally leave. Abuse often happens behind closed doors with no witnesses. Victims may not have medical records, police reports, or the kind of documentation that holds up in a legal proceeding. Requiring that evidence as a precondition for divorce creates a bottleneck at exactly the moment someone most needs to get out.
Even when evidence exists, the process becomes a weapon. An abuser who knows their spouse must prove fault has every reason to contest the allegations, drag out proceedings, and use the litigation itself as another form of control.
The research on this is not theoretical. A widely cited study by economists Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers found that states adopting unilateral divorce laws saw domestic violence decline by roughly a quarter to a half, and female suicide fell by approximately 20 percent in the long run.3National Bureau of Economic Research. Bargaining in the Shadow of the Law: Divorce Laws and Family Distress Lowering the barrier to exit changed outcomes. Raising it again would predictably reverse some of those gains.
The broader claim that no-fault divorce created a permanent epidemic of family dissolution also runs into the data. No-fault laws did produce an initial spike in divorce rates as couples who had been unable to leave bad marriages finally could. But the U.S. divorce rate has been declining for decades. As of 2023, the rate stood at 2.4 per 1,000 population, well below the peak levels of the early 1980s.4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. FastStats – Marriage and Divorce
What Repeal Would Not Change
One common assumption about ending no-fault divorce is that it would reward the “innocent” spouse financially. The reality is more limited. Even in states that currently allow fault-based divorce, marital fault is usually irrelevant to alimony decisions. Courts treat spousal support as an economic question based on the financial positions of both parties, not a reward or punishment for marital behavior. Exceptions exist for extreme cases, such as when misconduct amounts to financial wrongdoing like hiding assets or dissipating marital funds, or when the behavior was so egregious that denying support entirely would be unconscionable. The spouse who was cheated on doesn’t automatically get a bigger check.
Child custody decisions similarly focus on the best interests of the child rather than who caused the marriage to fail. Courts look at each parent’s relationship with the child, caregiving history, stability, and any history of abuse or substance use. An affair, while painful, doesn’t typically change a custody outcome unless it directly affected the children’s wellbeing. Repealing no-fault divorce would not reshape these financial and custodial frameworks the way many proponents seem to assume.
Covenant Marriage: An Opt-In Alternative That Already Exists
For couples who want a higher legal bar for divorce without waiting for lawmakers to change the rules for everyone, covenant marriage already exists in Louisiana, Arizona, and Arkansas. It is a voluntary, stricter form of marriage that both partners opt into before or during the marriage.
Entering a covenant marriage requires premarital counseling with a licensed counselor or clergy member and a signed declaration that the couple intends the marriage to be lifelong. Ending one is significantly harder. A spouse seeking divorce generally must prove adultery, a felony conviction, abuse, substance addiction, or that the couple has lived separately for one to two years depending on the state.
In practice, very few couples choose it. Estimates suggest that in states where it’s available, fewer than 5 percent of marriages are covenant marriages.
If You’re Thinking About Divorce Now
The current legal landscape has not shifted. You can still file citing irreconcilable differences or irretrievable breakdown without accusing your spouse of anything, and your spouse cannot block the divorce by refusing to agree. Waiting periods still apply depending on your state, and you can still choose to file on fault grounds instead if you think it will help your position on property division or support.
Whether repeal proposals gain more traction in future legislative sessions will likely depend on whether the movement can answer the practical objections that have stalled every bill so far: how to protect abuse victims, how to avoid burying lower-income spouses in legal costs, and how to square fault requirements with decades of family law that has moved away from blame as a framework for dividing assets and determining custody.