For decades, people have thrown the term around like everyone understands it.
“No-fault divorce ruined marriage.”
“No-fault divorce saved people from abusive partners.”
“We need to bring back fault-based divorce.”
But most people don’t actually know what no-fault divorce means—or what it doesn’t mean.
Let’s break it down without the legal fog.
What No-Fault Divorce Actually Means
No-fault divorce means you don’t have to prove someone did something wrong in order to end a marriage.
That’s it.
No cheating required.
No abuse required.
No abandonment required.
No “receipts.”
No courtroom spectacle explaining who did what to whom.
Instead, one spouse can simply say:
“Irreconcilable differences”
“Incompatibility”
“The marriage is irretrievably broken”
…and the divorce can proceed, even if the other spouse doesn’t want it.
What No-Fault Divorce Does NOT Mean
This is where the myths come in.
No-fault divorce does NOT mean:
-Assets are always split 50/50
-Spousal support is automatic
-The mother always gets the kids
-Courts ignore infidelity
-Fault cannot be considered in property division or custody
-Men “get screwed” by default
-Women “get screwed” by default
-Cheaters walk away without consequences
Courts in many states can still consider:
-Abuse
-Domestic violence
-Dissipation of marital assets (e.g., spending money on an affair)
-Child endangerment
-Extreme misconduct
No-fault divorce simply removes the requirement that someone must be blamed to dissolve the marriage.
Why No-Fault Divorce Exists
Before no-fault laws, people had to prove wrongdoing. That meant:
-Hiring private investigators
-Staging fake infidelity
-Lying under oath
-Manufacturing evidence
-Staying trapped in abusive or miserable marriages because they couldn’t prove fault
Society realized the system created more perjury than peace.
No-fault divorce was introduced to:
-Reduce court time
-Reduce false accusations
-Allow people to exit marriages that were dead but not “provably dead”
-Modernize marital law to reflect human reality, not 19th-century morality
Which States Have No-Fault Divorce?
All 50 U.S. states offer some form of no-fault divorce. However, it’s not uniform.
Some states allow only no-fault grounds, while others allow both fault and no-fault options.
States With Only No-Fault Divorce
25 states do not require or even offer fault-based grounds:
California
Colorado
Florida
Hawaii
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey (practically no-fault only, though “extreme cruelty” still technically exists)
New Mexico
North Carolina (separation period required)
Oklahoma
Oregon
South Dakota
Utah
Washington
Wisconsin
Wyoming
Note: Some have “fault” grounds on the books, but they’re functionally irrelevant, unused, or legally dead.
States With Both Fault And No-Fault Divorce
25 states still allow you to file based on specific wrongdoing or to simply use no-fault grounds:
Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
Connecticut
Delaware
Georgia
Idaho
Illinois
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Mississippi
New York
North Dakota
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
West Virginia
The Bottom Line
No-fault divorce doesn’t mean marriage is disposable. This is a manosphere myth.
It doesn’t mean the courts ignore bad behavior.
It doesn’t mean someone “gets away with” cheating.
It simply means you don’t need to turn your life into a courtroom drama just to leave a marriage that isn’t working.
This is a good thing for society.
Divorce is hard enough.
No-fault laws simply stop the system from making it harder.
-The Rational Ram
The Rational Ram 