US States with Pro-men Divorce Laws
Like laws governing marriage, those regulating divorce are largely the product of mores, ethics and strong cultural traits prevailing in a particular time and place. In addition, laws in civil societies also aspire to the ideals of fairness, justice and equality. All this can make civil laws – like those pertaining to marriage and divorce – different in different penal systems. Here are those in United States that may seem to provide men an edge over women in divorce cases.
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Texas
In Texas law regulating divorce, alimony is known “maintenance” and no matter whose “fault” led to the marriage break-up, the court usually orders "maintenance" under very limited circumstances. These are when: (1) A spouse is convicted of or received "deferred adjudication" for a crime that also constitutes family violence, within two years of the filing of the suit, or while the suit for divorce is pending; or (2) The spouses have been married for at least ten years, and the spouse seeking maintenance: (a) is unable to be self supporting due to an incapacitating physical or mental disability; or (b) has custody of a child who requires substantial and continuous care, making it impractical and inappropriate for that spouse to work outside the home; or (c) clearly lacks the ability to earn a living which would meet that spouse's minimum reasonable needs. This is quite different from states like Florida and Colorado where the wife is entitle to practically permanent alimony, if the couple have been married for a very long time, like for ten to twenty years.
In Texas again long term alimony is discouraged. In the absence of a disability, maintenance is limited to a maximum of three years. A court may not enter a maintenance order that requires a monthly payment more than the lesser of $2,500, or 20% of the paying spouse's average monthly gross income. This is helpful for men who do not want to act as permanent ATM for their divorced wives.
Despite some laws on alimony appearing to favor men, Texas follows the Community Property Law which may not be good news to the husband planning to divorce his wife. Community property is "all property acquired during marriage by either spouse," according to "The Handbook of Texas." This includes all "earnings of both spouses and the revenues from the separate property acquired during marriage." For the woman who did not work outside the home, this law helps ensure that she receives half of the property that her homemaking work enabled the couple to acquire but for the man who has larger assets than his wife, it may not be good news since he would be reluctant to give an estranged partner a share in the event of a divorce.
New York
For men seeking custody of children or generous visitation rights, New York divorce laws can hold out substantial hope. New York law presumes that a man married to the mother at the time of a child's birth is the legal father; therefore, the husband generally doesn't need to take further action to establish paternity. A legal father may request custody or visitation rights in a divorce case. If anyone wants to challenge the husband's parental rights, the onus is on the challenger to open a paternity case and offer DNA evidence that he is not the child's father before the court can take away the husband's rights as the child's father.
In a divorce pending between a man and a woman, the father might worry that the court may favor the child's mother when making court orders regarding custody and visitation. However, under New York divorce laws, the court does not prefer either parent simply because of that parent's gender – this effectively means that the mother cannot automatically assume that she will be given custody. The court must consider each family's circumstances and make a custody and visitation decision seeking the best possible outcome for the child.
Nevada
If a man is looking for a quick, hassle-free divorce, one of the best places to do that is the state of Nevada. Nevada has one of the highest divorce rates of any state, with a whopping 14% of the population having been through one. If a man can establish residency for six weeks, he may take advantage of the quick divorce laws. The six-week residency rule is the shortest of any state, and after establishing residency you can get an uncontested divorce in as little as 48 hours. Best of all, as a no-fault state, you do not need grounds for divorce like some other states. There is also a formula for child support that reduces litigation and uncertainty. However Nevada is great only for an uncontested divorce – if a man’s estranged wife decides to contest the divorce as well as related issues like alimony and child support in the court, he may not find it so easy to cut himself loose from his responsibilities.
Delaware
Delaware may offer even more ease than Nevada when it comes to ending a marriage. In Delaware, a couple can file to have their union annulled if they entered into it as a "jest" or "dare." This is particularly good news for men who wish to opt out of a relationship they unthinkingly entered into.
Kansas
In case of Kansas divorce law, divorcing men can take hope from the provision that spousal maintenance is not permanent. No matter how long the couple may have been married, divorce law in this state, curbs its durations at 121 months. In fact in some places, men also take comfort that frivolous reasons will not be used against them as grounds for divorce. For instance, in Wichita, Kansas, it's written into law that a man's mistreatment of his mother-in-law can't be used as grounds for divorce1.
Utah
Like Kansas, divorce laws in Utah also allow a limited period of alimony. Laws in Utah do not grant alimony past a time period equal to the duration of the marriage.
But before men on the verge of divorce rush to these states to have their singles status restored, it may be better to remember that the law is always looking for an equal and fair treatment of both parties. if apparently pro-women divorce laws were brought in place to redress the centuries of wrong done by patriarchy, now legal systems are increasingly waking up to the fact2 that many men are being wrongly harmed by certain divorce laws. in the end, no matter which state a man may seek to divorce in, the law and the judge is more likely to consider all factors affecting the case, than just his gender.
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