The deserter or the adulterer could not get a divorce. The system decided who was at fault and then punished the guilty party. Although the adversary system has not changed, modern divorce has. The role of fault has been dramatically diminished. Modern no-fault divorce, now adopted in some form in nearly every state, eliminated the requirement that fault be offered or proven as a basis for divorce, and it allows nonvictims to get a divorce.
Some states retain traditional fault grounds in addition to no-fault.
But very few divorces are settled on the premise of punishing the wicked and rewarding the victim. Notwithstanding, the change in the way fault is defined, the courts do not correspond to the way people feel about fault and divorce. Very few divorcing people really believe in no-fault as a concept, finding much greater consolation in the belief that their spouses are to blame for the divorce. Although the adversary system initially promises vindication, it disappoints in the end because there is no finding of fault and no emotional exoneration. Our courts are much too busy coping with a flood of litigation to pay much attention to marital fault.