Connecticut, like most other states, allows for divorce – or, as we call it in Connecticut, dissolution of marriage– on a number of grounds. These grounds include, among others, adultery, willful desertion, habitual intemperance, intolerable cruelty, and the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. It is the last of these — irretrievable breakdown of the marriage — that is almost universally used in divorce cases in Connecticut. The legislature added the grounds of irretrievable breakdown in 1973 making Connecticut one of many so-called of no-fault states. Unfortunately, this designation causes some confusion among divorcing couples to this day.
With very few exceptions, lawyers now site no-fault grounds rather than fault grounds in even the most bitterly contested cases. This is because choice of grounds relates to only one of very many issues a court must decide in a divorce. That single issue is whether the divorce, itself ,will be granted. The intent of adding a no-fault language to the list of grounds for divorce was to make it unnecessary for parties to present evidence of wrongdoing in order to end their marriage.
While there were some who saw the advent of no-fault divorce as destructive to the institution of marriage, the common wisdom was, and remains, that, by making it unnecessary to present proof of a spouse’s faults or failures just to end a marriage, couples and families could emerge from the process with minimal damage.
Still, adding a no-fault grounds to the list of fault grounds was never intended to prevent the court from hearing evidence about bad behaviour in deciding other issues in divorce cases. Instead, it only meant that judges no longer had the option to deny a divorce if there had been insufficient proof of fault such as adultery or cruelty. If one spouse testifies that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, it has, whether or not the other spouse agrees. Thus, one issue of the case has been decided.
Aggrieved spouses may still produce evidence of all sorts of wrongdoing in an effort to convince a court to
award or not to award alimony, and to divide the marital property in a way that favors them. On issues of child custody and visitation, the court is obligated to resolve disputes based solely on the best interests of the children. Here, too, if one of the parties has behaved in a way that threatens the well-being of the children — everything from a pattern of disengagement, to neglect or abuse — proof of those behaviors are relevant to the interests of the children and are therefore admissible. For all of these reasons, referring to Connecticut as a no-fault state can be a bit misleading.
So, what is an uncontested divorce? It is one in which fault — whether or not it played a part in the breakdown of the marriage — is never brought to the attention of the court because virtually all issues, including custody, support, alimony, the division of property, and more, have been resolved by the parties, themselves. In those cases, the court is simply provided with an agreement which will be approved provided it is not manifestly unfair or detrimental to the interests of the children.
Even in truly uncontested divorces, the court has an obligation to review the agreement so all of the documentation that is required in contested cases, is also required in uncontested cases. This documentation includes properly completed financial affidavits. In families with children, the parties must also submit affidavits in which they swear that no other court is considering issues affecting the children.
Sometimes, cases are technically uncontested because one party is not participating. In these cases, the party seeking the divorce must also follow strict rules which assure that the absent party has been properly notified of the action and has been given a fair opportunity to participate.
Couples planning an uncontested divorce, and even individuals who expect that their absent spouse will not oppose a divorce, should still take great care to be sure that their agreement or, in the case of unopposed divorces, their proposal, is truly fair and reasonable and that it covers all of the issues that should be addressed. Although the court does have an obligation to review the agreement for manifest unfairness, it is extremely unusual for judges to interfere in any way with a completed agreement. Moreover, judges are not permitted to provide legal advice to the parties who appear before them. Also, it can be nearly impossible to correct certain portion of unfair agreements once they have been made part of a decree of dissolution. Therefore, even those preparing for an uncontested divorce will benefit for the advice of experience counsel.
