New York - Senate Democrats passed controversial legislation Tuesday that would remove New York’s distinction of being the only state without a no-fault divorce law. Currently, couples can only get divorced in New York if there is a finding of fault, such as adultery or abandonment, or if both spouses agree on a separation and live apart for a year or more. “The requirement of finding fault is often unfair to children and horrendous for victims of domestic violence, trapped in abusive marriages with no way out without the consent of the abuser,” said Sen. Ruth Hassell-Thompson, D-Mount Vernon, Westchester County, the lead sponsor of the no-fault bill. “By implementing a policy of no-fault divorce, this prolonged and often- destructive process would be eliminated,” she said. The bill, which was approved 32-29, would allow no-fault divorce after a marriage has “irretrievably” broken down for six months or more and after all financial and custody issues are resolved. The Senate easily passed two less-controversial bills Tuesday that would require counsel fees to be awarded at the onset of the divorce process and establish post-marital income guidelines. Both would ensure fairness for less-monied spouses, often women, proponents said. All three bills now go to the Assembly. Advertisement: State law doesn’t provide enough guidance on dividing the assets of future income fairly, said Hassell-Thompson, who is sponsoring the post-marital income bill too. Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, D-Scarsdale, Westchester County, the sponsor in her house, said “many judges don’t recognize that marriage is an economic partnership and when it dissolves, you have to give the non-monied spouse or the less-monied spouse the respect of having been in that partnership.” Senate Democratic Leader John Sampson, D-Brooklyn, is sponsoring the legal counsel bill. Judges have authority under current law to require the more-monied spouse to pay legal fees for the other spouse, but they are awarded inconsistently and often too late in the process to be helpful, Senate Democrats said. Among the supporters of the legislation are the Women’s Bar Association, the Legal Aid Society and the state Bar Association. “We strongly feel that passage of this bill is crucial for domestic-violence victims by allowing a quicker and far less confrontational end to the abusive marriage,” said attorney Michelle Haskin, co-chairwoman of the Matrimonial Committee of the Women’s Bar Association of New York. The bill will “spare litigants costly and lengthy court battles to prove fault” and protect children from emotional damage, she said. Opponents of the no-fault divorce bill include the state Catholic Conference, the National Organization for Women of New York State, and New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, an evangelical Christian group. The no-fault bill sends the wrong message about marriage and its permanence, Catholic Conference spokesman Dennis Poust said. “We think it should be a little more work to get out of a marriage than to get out of a cell-phone contract,” he said. The conference doesn’t oppose the two other bills, Poust said. New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms believes that no-fault divorce causes an increase in divorce rates, reduces protections for spouses who want to continue marriages, hurts many women and children financially, takes away the rights of fathers over their children, and has other problems, according to a memo from the group. NOW of New York believes that the legislation on counsel fees and post-marital income guidelines should be approved and be in effect for a few years to see whether they are working for women, state President Marcia Pappas said. If they are successful, then lawmakers could take up no-fault divorce, she added. “We have believed and continue to believe that no-fault divorce puts the lesser- or non-monied spouse at a disadvantage when negotiating the terms of a divorce, and that person is generally a woman,” Pappas said, adding that legislators who vote for the bill are “turning their backs on women.” Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan, said she was told by a New York lawyer when she was going through an amicable divorce in the 1980s that she would have to lie about her spouse or her spouse would have to lie about her in order to get a divorce immediately. They didn’t want to do that. She flew to Ohio, where her husband had moved, to get a no-fault divorce, she said.