Divorce and Adultery

As family lawyers, we are often approached by individuals whose marriage has sadly broken down and who state that they wish to divorce their spouse “on the grounds of adultery”.   There is in fact only one ground for divorce in this country, namely the ”irretrievable breakdown of the marriage”.  However adultery is one of five ‘facts’ that can be relied upon to satisfy the Court a marriage has broken down.

Until further legislative reform, we have in this country a divorce system which in part is still fault-based.  The requirement to have been separated for at least 2 years means that the non-fault based facts often hold less attraction for divorcing couples, who are likely to want to resolve all matters relating to their separation and in particular their financial affairs, as quickly as possible.

Because of the need to prove to the Court that adultery has taken place, starting divorce proceedings on this basis without your spouse having at least confirmed in writing that he or she admits to adultery taking place is not advisable.  Proving adultery has taken place is otherwise extremely difficult.  That said, we have had some success in recent times in satisfying the Court that adultery had taken place without any admission by our client’s spouse.  This was in circumstances where the husband had fathered a child with another woman during the marriage and we were able to provide the Court with, amongst other documents, a copy of the child’s birth certificate on which our client’s husband was named as the father.  Such cases are however rare and the initial focus should be on establishing whether your spouse is prepared to formally admit to adultery, in which case our experience shows that many couples find this to be preferable overall to a divorce on the alternative fault-based fact of ‘unreasonable behaviour’.

Our experienced team of family and divorce lawyers are here to assist should you need advice on any family law or divorce matter. Contact our local family law experts on 0800 015 0340 to arrange an initial free half hour appointment at any of our offices in Huddersfield, Halifax, Wakefield, Horbury, Leeds, Pudsey or Morley.