What is a no-fault divorce?

In Ohio, a “no-fault divorce” can mean a couple of things. Technically, there is no such “divorce” in the Ohio law. From the standpoint of what that may mean to someone who is not a Domestic Relations Law attorney however, what is generally referred to as a “no-fault divorce” may be what is technically called a “Dissolution” in Ohio. A Dissolution is a process where, in advance of filing a formal legal action with the Court, the spouses agree on the resolution of all issues that need to be decided based upon the fact that the spouses are ending their marriage, and those agreements are then put into written agreements signed by both spouses. Those written Agreements are then filed with the Court, along with a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, whereby the Court is asked to end the parties’ marriage at their joint request, and to include their signed Agreements as part of the Order of the Court ending their marriage. People may also consider a “no-fault divorce” to be a formal divorce proceeding where the parties agree that the marriage will be terminated on the legal grounds of incompatibility, or that the parties having lived separately for more than one year.