Some states require a waiting period for their residents. The waiting period can range from six weeks to two or three years. Illinois and South Dakota maintain the strictest divorce laws. In Minnesota the statute covering dissolution of marriage reads like a primer on no-fault divorce. No-fault is not without its detractors.
Some critics argue that strict no-fault divorce can provide a cover for serious marital misconduct.
By refusing to examine the marital conduct of parties in setting future obligations, some states prevent spouses, usually impoverished wives, from exposing and receiving redress for tortious or criminal conduct. In response to this problem, the vast majority of states have abolished statutes that prevent one spouse from suing the other. However, tort claims for marital misconduct are often treated with suspicion, and juries are seldom eager to settle marital discord. Fault has survived in some aspects of divorce proceedings. It was once relevant to a decree of divorce and irrelevant to such matters as child custody and property divisions.