Legal News

The current divorce law requires that a couple’s marriage needs to have irretrievably broken down, and they must use one of the five facts to support their application for a divorce:

1. Adultery


2. Behaviour


3. Desertion


4. Two years separation


5. Five years separation

This means that if one spouse wanted to divorce straight away, they must blame their husband or wife based on a ‘fault’ or be prepared to have a period to separation before their divorce can be granted.

However, not all marriages break down as a result of adultery, behaviour issues, or desertion, and the marriage could have simply broken down due to no fault of either party. This means under the current law, couples have to be separated for at least two years in order for their divorce to be granted. If after two years of separation, one spouse disagrees to the divorce, the parties must then wait until they have separated for five years before divorce proceedings can commence.

Initiating the divorce process can cause conflict between parties who may wish to divorce amicably but quickly. Some spouses have agreed to ‘taking the blame’ just to ensure a quick and speedy divorce even though they do not agree to the contents of the divorce application or were at any fault.

On 7th January 2020 a Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill re-entered parliament seeking to reduce family conflict by removing the element that one party needs to blame the other for the breakdown of the marriage. Divorce law has needed a change for many years, and it is hoped these changes in the law will avoid confrontation.

The new procedure will allow couples to either individually or jointly provide a statement explaining that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. Irretrievable breakdown of a marriage is proposed to be the sole ground for a divorce moving forward which will eliminate the requirement to evidence a fact around behaviour or time.

The changes in the law will also remove the possibility of one party contesting the decision to divorce as the statement mentioned above will be held as evidence that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. The courts will then be able to make a conditional order after 20 weeks have passed from the start of the proceedings. The 20-week period will allow parties to reflect on the marriage and be sure that a divorce is what they want. Furthermore, it will allow parties to discuss any children or financial matters that may need addressing.

In relation to financial matters, the new divorce law will further assist separated spouses in dealing with their matrimonial property instead of having to afford two separate households. Currently, couples are unable to apply for Financial Relief until they have started their divorce petition. This could mean that couples are unable to agree on the division of their matrimonial assets without the courts being involved and if one party does not take the ‘blame’ for the marriage breaking down, they are unable to start divorce proceedings.

The changes due to come into effect have been campaigned for many years and they will be welcomed by family solicitors as it will hopefully make the process swifter and easier all round.


Author Rajneet Grewal is a trainee solicitor in the family and child care department based in Milton Keynes. She assists on variety of family child care matters including public and private matters, and works under the supervision of director Natasha Khakhar.

Contact Rajneet on 020 7275 2665 or at rajneetg@duncanlewis.com

Contact Natasha on 020 7014 7385 or at natashak@duncanlewis.com