Making Divorce a Disaster? The Misguided Fight to Repeal No-Fault Divorce with Professor Marcia Zug on Divorce & Beyond #364

Susan Guthrie welcomes special guest Marcia Zug, a family law expert and law professor, to discuss the move to repeal no-fault divorce laws. As reform proposals emerge across several states, this conversation explores what a shift back to fault-based divorce could mean for individuals, families, and the legal system. 

Marcia offers insights into the history of no-fault divorce, the forces behind this legislative push, and the potential impacts on personal freedom, safety, and family dynamics. Tune in for an eye-opening look at the fight to preserve no-fault divorce and the disastrous implications for your rights and future.

Featured Topics:

• Understanding the difference between fault divorce and no-fault divorce and what each requires
• The origins of no-fault divorce laws and how California became the first state to pass them in 1969
• The impact of repealing no-fault divorce, including its wider social and political implications
• The future of no-fault divorce, the momentum behind repeal efforts, and whether there are movements to protect or expand these laws

Golden nuggets:

• “If we want more people to get married, I think they need to understand both what marriage does for them and how it might be beneficial, but also not scare them by locking them into a marriage that they could never get out of.”
• “By forcing people to rehash all of the horrible things that have gone on in the marriage,  it brings a lot of animosity to the divorce and makes negotiation and compromises much, much harder.”
• “ Even though cruelty was grounds for divorce, it wasn't protecting victims of violence in marriages. No-fault was seen as a solution to that.  States reluctantly accepted it, not because they liked divorce, but because they recognized that it was needed because divorce to fault grounds was deadly, particularly to women.”

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About this week's special guest: Marcia Zug Marcia Zug is a Family Law professor at the Jospeh F. Rice School of law at the University of South Carolina. Her latest book, You'll Do: A History of Marrying for Reasons Other than Love explores the instrumental use of marriage and the role of marriage in modern society.

Marcia’s book: You'll Do: A History of Marrying for Reasons Other Than Love

Mentioned in this episode: Uxoricide / Marticide: When a spouse kills their spouse. Beyond Divorce: Healing the Invisible Scars of Domestic Abuse with Beverly Price

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