Does anyone know what the practical differences are between a fault and a no-fault divorce? Our state requires a couple to be separated for 18 months before a no-fault divorce. If one of us were willing to admit fault, what would the practical ramifications be? We really don't have any property in dispute, and there would be no alimony involved, and we don't have children. Would it matter which type of divorce we got? Does anyone know?

It is realy dependent on the state that you live in.

As far as I know all divorce is public record so if your willing to put a brand on your name as public record you could probably file under some kind of fault.

I live in NJ and it is also 18 months. When filed under extreem cruelty there is not wait. Rules for extreme cruelty are pretty off the wall. It doesn't take much to qualify but If STBX filed under this the words "Extreme Cruelty" would be tatooed to me as far as I'm concerned.

It took years to build our relationship. It deserves the 18 months to unwind itself.

WIWH

"It took years to build our relationship. It deserves the 18 months to unwind itself."

That's a good way of looking at it.

I'm in NJ too, and the standard is "Extreme Cruelty".
However, as you'll read, if you have kids these things drag on, so by the time the divorce is final, if its after 18 months of separation, the lawyers change the document so it meets the 18 month and no grounds are made public.
This happened for me and my friends.

WIWH, You have some pretty good things to say and am glad I am here with you. Things are hard to begin with divorce, but dragging it out leaves more room for torment if that is who you are married to. On the other hand, if I wasnt so quick to say divorce rather than separate, would she be still getting the help she needs, would she be pushing divorce, would she be acting so greedy, would she be wrecking what relationship she does have with her kids like she is now with facing divorce? Sometimes I feel like I should have told her to leave but not be ready for a D. Maybe she could once again be the person she was, but the D word sent her into a rage. I guess we will never know, and we will always wonder what if.

As far as grounds, I was told that grounds only speed things up. They dont nessesarily lead to a better property distribution but can. I was also told that the record that you divorced is public but the reasons are sealed. The only ones who know are the judge, the stenographer, the lawyers and you.