Arizona House OKs New Division of Assets in Divorce Cases
By CAPITOL MEDIA SERVICES
04/12/2005
By a 31-20 margin the House gave preliminary approval Monday to legislation letting judges alter how they divide up property in divorces.
Current law requires property to be divided up on an equitable basis. SB 1145 permits a judge to consider "marital misconduct" in making that decision.
The legislation also makes misconduct a factor that may be considered in determining whether one spouse pays alimony to the other and in what amount, and in the payment of child support.
Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, said misconduct should be a factor. He said it is easier to get out of a 40-year marriage than break a lease.
But Rep. David Bradley, D-Tucson, said this will result only in more acrimonious divorces and more traumatized children. The measure, which already has been approved by the Senate, now needs a final House roll-call vote.
More on this later in the week.
Have they considered what this will do to children of a divorce, when mom and dad go into court and drag all this out. Sounds like more than one state is attempting to bring fault back into the picture by bootstrapping it into "property division."