13
Jul 2020
No Fault Divorce Campaign Success
On 17th June 2020 a long-running campaign spearheaded by Resolution, the national organisation representing family lawyers, came to fruition and resulted in the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill passing through the House of Commons.
This new legislation will result in the overhaul of the divorce process in England and Wales and removes the current requirement to assign fault in order to be able to immediately issue a divorce petition.
Although either party can start an application themselves, the new process will mean that both parties can make a joint application to start the divorce. They will need to provide a statement that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, there is no need to rely on one of the current five facts.
It will no longer be an option for one party to defend a divorce. Although it is rare that a petition is defended, when it is, it can be enormously stressful for a Petitioner who wishes to be divorced.
There will be a minimum time frame of six months from the petition until the divorce is finalised.
Currently, anyone wanting to divorce will have to do so under the present regime which includes two fault-based petitions relying on facts of adultery or unreasonable behaviour. It is not anticipated that the new law will come into effect until at least August 2021.
This change in the law has been welcomed by family lawyers who see first hand the difficulties that arise when at the very outset of a case a Petitioner is required to blame their spouse in order to start divorce proceedings. It is hoped that by removing this animosity that other issues surrounding arrangements for children and settling finances will become less fraught.
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