New ‘no fault’ divorce – out with the ‘blame and claim’ game!
If you want to apply for a divorce, as the law currently stands, it’s a ‘blame and claim game’. you have to either blame your husband/wife for the breakdown and claim that they either committed adultery or have behaved so reasonably that you can’t live with them. If you can’t or don’t want to do either, you have to wait for two years – in certain circumstances, five years. This having to blame the other causes extra aggravation at a time when the atmosphere is already tense. The government have been promising reform for years but now its finally becoming a reality: the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 received Royal Assent on 25th June and removes blame and fault from the divorce process.
Whilst these changes are not expected to take effect until late 2021 or even early 2022 (no date has been announced: the Government says the delay is “because time needs to be allowed for careful implementation”), here are the main changes:
- ‘Irretrievable breakdown’ remains the sole ground for divorce: you don’t have to prove adultery or unreasonable behaviour to justify wanting to end the marriage – all you have to do is state that the marriage has broken down irretrievably;
- The ‘irretrievable breakdown’ statement is determinative meaning the divorce can only be challenged on a limited number of very technical grounds such as jurisdiction or the validity of the marriage itself. This will remove the real or tactical threat that of a defended divorce;
- a married couple can make a joint application to the court to end their marriage;
- There must be a minimum of 6 months between the lodging of the petition and the final divorce order being made;
This last means that although you will be able to divorce without having to say precisely why you think the marriage has broken down, it’s not a ‘quickie divorce’. I’m not sure that exists! If you issue a divorce petition now, you can expect the whole process to take between 3-4 months given cooperation on both sides and an efficient court. I have to say that recent experience of the government’s new on-line procedure is very promising and once Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service tweaks their professional-use web site to make it a bit more user-friendly, this will be the way ahead.
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