ASSEMBLY JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 276

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: MAY 20, 1996

      The Assembly Judiciary Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly No. 276.

      This bill amends N.J.S.2A:34-2 concerning the causes for divorce. It adds a new cause of action in subsection i. based on irreconcilable differences. As amended by the committee, the bill provides that a divorce will be granted on grounds of "irreconcilable differences which have caused the breakdown of the marriage for a period of three months and which make it appear that the marriage should be dissolved and that there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation."       The committee amendments remove language from the original bill which had set out a definition of irreconcilable differences as "substantial reasons for not continuing the marriage." In addition, the committee added new clarifying language, "and that there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation."

      The committee intends by removing the "substantial reasons for not continuing the marriage" language from the bill, to make it clear that a complaint for divorce on "irreconcilable differences" grounds would not contain any list or description of the reasons for the divorce. Under the bill, it would be sufficient for a complaint to simply state that the plaintiff seeks a divorce on the grounds of irreconcilable differences without setting out any further specifics.

      This bill embodies recommendation number 1 of the report of the Commission to Study the Law of Divorce, issued April 18, 1995.

      This bill was prefiled for introduction in the 1996 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review which has been performed.