Back in the 1960’s California, like most states, still required that a person seeking divorce prove that there were good legal grounds for a divorce; grounds such as infidelity, cruelty, or some other crime or misdemeanor. This frequently led to nasty court fights and provided employment to a considerable number of private detectives. It also kept a large number of dissatisfied or unhappy people married; people who could no longer stand their partner, but could not prove any wrong doing. Short of killing themselves, or their partner, there was only one way out of these marriages; a trip to Nevada, a short residency, and a quickie Nevada divorce. It was more expensive than a Mexican Divorce, but it was recognized in all 50 states, something that could not be said for the divorce from south of the border.

Today, most states have no fault divorce laws that allow dissolution of a marriage that is no longer tenable for reasons that are not easily definable or provable under law. The irreconcilable divorce can now be gotten just about any where in the United States. Nevada is still, however, doing a good business granting quickie divorces to spouses that have established the required residency.

You can still obtain a Nevada divorce if: the person seeking the divorce is a resident of Nevada, or the person being divorced is a resident of Nevada, or the reason for the divorce happened in Nevada. The residency requirements have not changed materially since the 1960’s; at least one of the parties must have lived in Nevada for 6 weeks prior to filing for divorce.

There are two no-fault, grounds for a Nevada divorce; being incompatible, or having lived separate and apart for more than a year with out cohabitation. Most other states have an irreconcilable-differences standard for their no-fault divorce, a slightly higher legal standard, which requires a bit more substantiation. The living separate-standard is like the divorce equivalent of the common law marriage; if you don’t live together, you don’t appear to be married and probably should not be married.

As in anything that involves the law, there are exceptions and limitations to the no-fault divorce proceedings, even in Nevada. The first extenuating circumstance is children; there can be no minor children (born, adopted, or in the womb) unless there is a written document outlining custody and support requirements, signed by both partners. Secondly, there can be no community or joint property unless there is a written document outlining disposition of such property and liabilities, along with signed documents transferring that property. Next both spouses must waive their rights to spousal support or maintenance, or have a signed agreement about such support. If all of these circumstances are in place, and both spouses agree, again in writing, to the divorce without requiring a hearing, the county district court judge can issue a summary judgment terminating the marriage.

All of these limitations on the simple divorce are designed to protect the rights of both parties. But, if both parties really want to terminate the marriage, it seems that the State of Nevada has made it as easy a possible to obtain the divorce. Nevada divorce records continue to show that there are many married couples from across the border coming to Nevada to get divorced, even in the age of near universal no-fault divorce laws.