PHEONIX — Last week, the media reported that conservative state lawmakers in West Virginia were pushing new legislation to deny spousal support to divorcing spouses who’d committed infidelity. Now, Arizona Family Law has jumped on the bandwagon too.

Republican state senator Linda Gray wants cheating and adultery to qualify as “misconduct” in a divorce. The proposed legislation SB1206,if passed, would allow evidence of “misconduct” that could potentiallyaffect issues such as property division, child support, and spousalsupport (known in the state as “spousal maintenance”). The law wouldn’t stop judges from granting divorces in any way, as long as the marriages are considered “irretrievably broken”.

There has been no date set yet for a hearing on the proposed legal change.

Senator Gray also feels that domestic violence, verbal abuse,abandonment, and financial irresponsibility (such as gambling away assets or spending money on an extramarital partner, for example) should count as misconduct as well. However, Divorce Law Arizona has not considered infidelity as a factor in divorce outcomes since the 1970s.

Sometimes in a relationship,” Gray, who represents Glendale County, AZ, said to the East Valley Tribune, “people really have a good cause on why they are getting divorced. If there has been abuse, why not let the judge know that?”

The legislation was created in part by Cathi Herrod, the president of the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative organization
That promotes pro-family views. Herrod told the Tribune that her proposed change “would enable the judge to say to the party who wanted the divorce, ‘You take the business and the debt,’ [and to] the party who didn’t want the divorce and still has a child at home, ‘You get the house free and clear and you restart your life.’”
However, not everybody thinks the requested legislation will be of any benefit to divorcing couples, and some feel it may cause more harm than good.
“You’re really inviting the parties to start bringing up who had the affair first and all these other issues. It’s really going to expand the litigation,” Judge Colleen McNally, who serves Maricopa County Superior Court, told the same paper. She added that such finger-pointing about infidelity and cheating in court “really has a negative effect on the kids.” The Arizona Legislature makes divorcing parents go to special classes to help them diffuse conflict and focus on the children’s needs, but Gray’s and Herrod’s legislation would detract from these positive efforts: “The whole focus of that class is[to help you] understand that something went wrong in your personal life, but you’ve got these kids. Let that go. Focus on [them].”

The legislation does not fully define “misconduct”. Although Herrod reportedly intended it to imply adultery and spousal abuse, Judge McNally questioned the vague language, saying to the East Valley Tribune that it could very well mean, “‘Who didn’t pick up their socks?’”

Arizona family law currently doesn’t guarantee spousal maintenance; spousal support usually goes to ex-spouses who have no means to support themselves, or who supported their exes through school, in longer marriages. In general, Arizona divorce law divides property equitably between divorcing spouses, with no consideration for marital misconduct.

Is there such a thing as a cheap divorce? With the current trend in most divorce proceedings these days, the correct term will have to be cheaper divorce. No matter what other people may say, there really is no such thing as going through such a process for free. The mere fact that a person will try to move to another domicile, or consulting the services of an attorney, or even ordering a do-it-yourself (DIY) divorce kit online all constitute to spending more money than usual in an effort to gain legal emancipation from a spouse. But there are ways on how to get cheap divorce, or rather cheaper divorce by following some of these steps.

1. Always, always, always ask for legal counseling – even if you intend to do most of the work or present your case at the divorce courts yourself. Ask your potential attorney if his or her company has un-bundling divorce services (where you can pick and choose the exact services you want to pay for only); pre-paid legal services (wherein you pay for the attorney’s full services but on a monthly rate only); or pro-bono services (free legal counseling, usually on grounds of bankruptcy.) In any event, a qualified lawyer will make this process go much faster as opposed to you simply guessing as to what you should be doing next. The rule of thumb for most divorce cases is this: the faster the process goes – the less money both parties will spend.

2. No matter how painful this process may go, never close your communication ties with your soon-to-be-ex. Again, it is important to make sure that the divorce papers of both parties are filed immediately and that child custody issues are discussed intimately. Aside from that, there are papers that would need the signatories of both husband and wife, especially when it comes to the dissolution of joint property and financial statements. Many separating couples are now choosing mediatory divorce, rather than to actually bring the procedure to the courts. Mediatory divorce means “civilly” talking about an uncontested separation – or almost uncontested. Unresolved issues are discussed behind closed doors with only the two parties and their legal representatives (if any) present. The judge will only come into the picture when all possible legal entanglements are already resolved.

3. Be reasonable rather than vindictive… and hope with all hope that your soon-to-be-ex follows the same rule. When it comes to divorce, there is no such thing as an equal split. There is a documented case in Arizona wherein one spouse demanded for the “equal” share of the printed encyclopedia from A to M-Me, while the other party should only be getting the Mi-My to Z books. Although this may seem hilarious now, it is a good example of asking for “equal” but an unreasonable request regarding joint properties. Try not to get too hung up on numbers if you do want the divorce proceedings to end inexpensively. A fair split is rarely an equal split. Try to focus your attention on more important matters: like back taxes, debts made under your joint accounts, credits that may be taken still under your name after the divorce, your kids’ unpaid education funds, etc. These are more important financial issues that you might be unfairly saddled with on your own. Assuredly, these issues are more important than splitting the encyclopedia books in half.