Divorce Rules Could Change for Millions of People Under Republican's Plan Published [View all]

Feb 20, 2026 at 04:08 PM EST

By Andrew Stanton
Weekend Staff Writer

A Republican candidate in Florida’s gubernatorial race is proposing a major change to the state’s divorce laws.

James Fishback said this week he would support changing the laws so that anyone who cheats would lose full custody and “full claims to any assets in that marriage.”

What To Know

Fishback discussed his proposal during a recent campaign stop, and a livestream of the event was public on his campaign’s Facebook page Friday morning.

“Divorce, it’s a tragedy. Look, if you’re an abusive relationship, I will always support your right to exit that relationship. But if you cheat on your partner, I'm going to reform the divorce laws so you give up 100 percent of everything,” he said. “No questions asked. If you are an adulterer in our state and then there is a divorce, you as the adulterer, you as the cheater, will lose full custody and will lose full claims to any assets in that marriage.”

He said he has seen people “who have suffered through the stress, the pain, the affliction of divorce” and that growing up in a two-parent household is a “privilege.”

More:
https://www.newsweek.com/divorce-rules-could-change-florida-republicans-plan-11558638



James Fishback