Prior to 1980, Pennsylvania was one of just a handful of states that did not recognize no-fault divorce. To obtain a divorce in Pennsylvania prior to 1980, an individual had to demonstrate that his or her spouse was insane, impotent, adulterous, abusive, or other criteria for obtaining a fault divorce. The Pennsylvania Divorce Code of 1980 eliminated the need to demonstrate fault, and today, the vast majority of divorces granted in Pennsylvania are no-fault divorces. There are two methods of obtaining a no-fault divorce in Pennsylvania:

(1) If both parties consent to a divorce, one of the spouses will file a divorce complaint to commence the court proceeding. The spouses are required to wait for a 90 day "cooling off" period before filing affidavits stating that they wish to be divorced. At that point, the court may enter a simple divorce or commence proceedings to divide the marital property and determine alimony, counsel fees and other economic claims in divorce.

(2) If one of the spouses does not consent, then the spouse who wishes to obtain a divorce must wait for two years from the date of separation. "Separation" occurs when the spouses commence to live separate and apart from each other (even if they continue to reside under the same roof). If one of the parties refuses to consent to a divorce, the court cannot commence proceedings to divide the marital property or determine alimony, counsel fees and other economic claims until the two year separation period has elapsed.