No gradation of blame for the breakdown of marriage

In the decision of 20 November 2020 (III CNP 6/20), the Supreme Court recalled that „for the acceptance of joint guilt for the breakdown of marriage between spouses, it is enough if the other spouse’s conduct contributed to this breakdown, even if the degree of his fault was smaller; fault in the breakdown of marital life cannot be graded. ” This means that although there may be (and considerable) differences in the extent to which the spouses have contributed to the breakdown of the marriage, the divorce will still be ordered by both spouses. The judgment will not mention who is more guilty of the breakdown of the marriage (possibly it may be described in the justification). The differences in the degree of guilt will also not affect the maintenance obligation between spouses after divorce.