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31 Hastings Women's L.J. 237 (2020)
'I Can't Afford to Leave Him' Divorcing a Spouse with Superior Financial Resources

handle is hein.journals/haswo31 and id is 239 raw text is: I Can't Afford to Leave Him Divorcing a Spouse with Superior Financial Resources By Cyn Haueter I. INTRODUCTION Current research shows that approximately half of all marriages will end in divorce within twenty years.1 People divorce for a variety of reasons, ranging from the benign to the scandalous, but adoption of no-fault divorce laws in all fifty states indicates the government-recognized importance of the ability to leave an unhappy marriage.2 Along with rising divorce rates, the past few decades have seen an increase in the cost of contested divorces,3 as well as concerns over how married individuals without independent means can afford them. Part II of this note examines the social and economic impact of divorce on women, who are more likely to be the more economically disadvantaged partners in heterosexual marriages,4 thus demonstrating the importance of access to legal representation in marital dissolutions. Part III discusses the issues that spouses lacking financial resources face in hiring a lawyer for divorce proceedings. Part IV offers background on court-mandated fee shifting and pendente lite attorney's fees in particular. Part V compares the statutes and practices of pendente lite fee shifting in California, a community property state, and New York, an equitable distribution state. Finally, Part VI concludes this note with suggestions on how states might improve their statutes in the interest of fairness and justice. 1. Casey E. Copen et al., First Marriages in the United States: Data from the 2006- 2010 National Survey of Family Growth, 49 NATIONAL HEALTH STATISTICS REPORT 1, 7 (2012) (This average divorce rate is nearly identical to divorce rates calculated in the 1970s). 2. Lauren Guidice, Note, New York and Divorce: Finding Fault in a No-Fault System, 19 J.L. & POL'Y 787, 788 (2011). 3. See infra Part III. 4. This note focuses primarily on heterosexual marriages where the husband is the primary breadwinner, controls the couple's liquid assets, or is otherwise in a financially advantageous position to wife. This is not intended to marginalize LGBTQ marriages, but rather reflects the currently available academic research and case law. This note also does not consider the impact of premarital or post-marital agreements on divorce legal fees. HASTINGS WOMEN'S LAW JOURNAL 237

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