Republicans Push To End No-Fault Divorce

Gold wedding rings on a divorce document — Photo: Daniel Jedzura / Shutterstock

Texas Republicans want to make it much harder to get a divorce, and they want spouses to prove someone did something wrong before a judge grants one.

Quick Take

The Republican Party of Texas platform calls for ending unilateral no-fault divorce and adding a six-month waiting period after filing.
State Representative filed House Bill 3401 in 2025 to repeal the “insupportability” ground Texans have used since 1970, but it failed to pass.
A Dallas man named Jeff Morgan is suing in court, arguing the current no-fault law is unconstitutional.
Family law attorneys and domestic violence advocates warn that removing no-fault options could trap abuse victims in dangerous marriages.

What The Texas GOP Platform Actually Says

Texas Republicans adopted platform language in 2026 urging the legislature to rewrite the entire Texas Family Code on divorce and child custody. This is not a new idea. The same call to end unilateral no-fault divorce appeared in the 2024 and 2022 party platforms, and similar language goes back to at least 2016. That repetition shows this is a long-term goal, not a one-time talking point.

That's what could happen to marriage laws. 🤯
⠀
The Texas GOP platform calls to ABOLISH no-fault divorce. Nebraska's proposes RESTRICTING it for parents.
⠀
This is a MASSIVE setback for women, yet few are talking about it.
⠀
🚨 Here's why we must sound the alarm…

— Lisa Schader, CPA (@MoneyFitMoms) August 29, 2026

Under current Texas law, a spouse can end a marriage simply by claiming “insupportability,” meaning the relationship has broken down beyond repair. Neither spouse has to prove the other did anything wrong. Texas adopted this rule in 1970, and it remains the ground used in most divorces filed in the state today.

The Bill That Almost Changed Everything

House Bill 3401, introduced in the 2025 legislative session, would have deleted that no-fault ground from the Family Code entirely. Under the bill, spouses seeking divorce would need to prove cruelty, adultery, a felony conviction, abandonment, or a long period of separation. Supporters say this would slow down hasty divorces. Critics say it would mean more court fights, more legal bills, and slower exits from bad marriages.

The bill did not become law in 2025. But Texas is not alone. Lawmakers in Oklahoma, Indiana, South Carolina, and South Dakota pushed similar bills in 2026, alongside efforts to expand covenant marriage. As of now, no state has actually repealed no-fault divorce.

A Texas Man Is Suing To Force The Issue In Court

Jeff Morgan, a Dallas County resident, filed a constitutional challenge against the state’s no-fault divorce statute in July 2025. His lawsuit argues the law is unconstitutional because it lets one spouse end a marriage without the other spouse’s consent. Lawyers on the other side filed a motion to dismiss the case in August, calling Morgan’s arguments flawed on eleven separate legal grounds. A hearing was set for February 2026.

Why Family Law Attorneys And Advocates Are Pushing Back

Natalie Nanasi, a law professor at Southern Methodist University who runs a legal center for crimes against women, says no-fault divorce works as “a lifeline” for people escaping unsafe marriages. She notes that fault-based divorce already exists in Texas today, but she rarely sees clients use it because proving cruelty or adultery in court is slow, expensive, and painful.

A published legal analysis from Southern Methodist University goes further, arguing that forcing victims to prove fault before divorcing raises financial burdens that can trap them in abusive homes and increase the risk of serious harm. Texas law already lets courts waive the standard 60-day waiting period for abuse victims and grants emergency protective orders without advance notice to a dangerous spouse.

Family law attorneys in Texas note that most divorces today already proceed quietly under the no-fault ground, letting couples split without dragging every grievance into a courtroom record. That efficiency is exactly what repeal supporters want to end, believing it makes divorce too easy and marriage too disposable.

What The Research Actually Shows

The bigger academic debate is far messier than either side admits. Some older economic studies found no-fault divorce laws caused a short-term jump in divorce rates, estimated around 6 to 10 percent for roughly a decade after states adopted them. But newer research using more advanced statistical methods finds no lasting, meaningful effect on divorce rates at all. In other words, the claim that repealing no-fault divorce would meaningfully strengthen marriages does not have solid, settled proof behind it. Legal scholars have also argued that reviving fault-based divorce clashes with decades of other family law reforms and creates new legal headaches without clear benefits.

Texas Republicans see a cultural problem worth fighting for through the legislature and the courts. Domestic violence advocates see a safety net worth protecting. Both sides are working from real Texas law and real Texas cases, and the outcome will shape how every future divorce in the state actually happens.