The Reno Divorce Era: When Nevada Became America's Divorce Capital

What Happened

In the early twentieth century, getting a divorce in most American states was extraordinarily difficult. New York, for example, only permitted divorce on grounds of adultery until 1967. South Carolina did not allow divorce at all until 1949. For unhappy spouses trapped in these restrictive states, there was one escape: Nevada. In 1931, the Nevada legislature slashed its residency requirement to just six weeks — the shortest in the nation — and permitted divorce on broad grounds including 'incompatibility' and 'mental cruelty.'

The result was a gold rush of divorce seekers. Reno, Nevada became the divorce capital of America. 'Dude ranches' sprang up outside town, catering to wealthy women (and some men) who needed to establish six weeks of residency. Guests rode horses, played cards, sunbathed, and socialized with fellow divorce-seekers while waiting for their freedom. The final step was often a ceremony of its own: newly divorced women would walk to the Virginia Street Bridge over the Truckee River and hurl their wedding rings into the water.

The celebrity clientele was remarkable. Mary Pickford, the biggest movie star of the silent era, obtained her Reno divorce in 1920 (when the requirement was still six months). Cornelius Vanderbilt III's wife Grace obtained hers in 1927. By the 1930s and 1940s, the Reno divorce was a cultural institution. Writers like Clare Boothe Luce satirized it in the play 'The Women' (1936), and Hollywood dramatized it in films. The six-week wait became shorthand for American marital escape.

Nevada's divorce industry had lasting consequences for American law. Other states, fearing they would lose residents and tax revenue, began liberalizing their own divorce laws. The competition between states to attract divorce proceedings — or repel them — helped shape the patchwork of American divorce law that persists today. California's no-fault divorce law of 1969, which eliminated the need to prove wrongdoing, was the eventual culmination of the liberalization that Nevada's six-week divorce helped start.

Legal Breakdown: Residency Requirements & Jurisdiction

What This Means for Your Divorce