Lawmaker halts efforts to modify state divorce law

A lawmaker has withdrawn her efforts to modify Utah's so-called "no-fault divorce" law, opting instead for starting a task force to study the cause of marital splits — an idea that was approved unanimously Tuesday night by the House Judiciary Committee.

Rep. Peggy Wallace, R-West Jordan, had sought to eliminate divorce on the grounds of "irreconcilable differences" if a couple has been married more than 10 years, has children or one of the spouses objects to the split.

Since unveiling the measure, however, Wallace said she has been flooded with personal stories of divorcing couples that have generated a lot of information that give rise to additional study.

"This is a divisive issue," she said. "Rarely is divorce a happy time in a couple's life."

Contrary to what she called a popular misunderstanding, Utah does not have a "no-fault" divorce law. Rather, the current statute makes Utah a "for cause" state where couples must establish some grounds for divorce, even if it is the vague reason of "irreconcilable differences."

A Deseret News/KSL-TV poll found a sampling of 406 households split on the issue of requiring divorcing couples to cite a specific reason for their breakup.

Conducted Jan. 31-Feb. 3, the survey had 42 percent of respondents in favor of repealing Utah's current law and making couples cite a specific reason for divorce, as opposed to 44 percent who are against repealing the law. Another 14 percent responded "don't know." The poll has a 5 percent margin of error.

Even though she withdrew her efforts to implement immediate changes to Utah's divorce law, Wallace said she is resolved to make changes to Utah's statute dealing with divorces.

"I've had couples tell me two or three years after a divorce they regret deeply going through what they did," she said, adding that the state "subsidizes" the personal choice to legally split up at a tune of $2.7 million.

In her latest version of HB54, Wallace proposes establishing nine member task force to study, among other things, if divorcing parties can be required to share more of the state's financial burden, if divorces involving domestic violence should be handled on a separate judicial track, and the possible effects of eliminating "irreconcilable differences" as a cause for divorce.

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E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com