New divorce law to end the blame game

New divorce law to end the blame game

New legislation to overhaul divorce law and reduce family conflict. For full details refer to new-divorce-law-to-end-the-blame-game

Divorcing couples will no longer have to blame each other for the breakdown of their marriage as the Justice Secretary today (9 April 2019) announced a new law to help reduce family conflict.  To the dismay of separating couples and the legal profession, implementation of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act has been delayed until 6 April 2022, to allow sufficient time for the digital arm of the service to be developed and tested.

Current laws demand proof that a marriage has broken down irretrievably and force spouses to evidence ‘unreasonable behaviour’ or years of separation, even in cases where a couple has made a mutual decision to part ways.

Marriages are not saved by the ability of one spouse to ‘contest’ a divorce in court. Very few divorces are contested but this practice is known to be misused by abusers choosing to contest a divorce purely to continue their coercive and controlling behaviour. The government therefore proposes to remove it.

  1. Application for divorce: The law will soon allow “joint” applications (at the moment only one person initiates the divorce process)
  2. Reason for divorce: This will be updated soon where the five “facts” as the reason for a divorce will be removed and you only need to provide simply a statement of “irretrievable breakdown” – expected to be implemented 2022.
  3. Contesting a divorce: Soon they will remove the ability of either party to contest a divorce
  4. Divorce process timeline: Introducing a minimum timeframe of 6 months, from the initial petition of the divorce stage to the finalisation of the divorce (20 weeks from petition stage to decree nisi; 6 weeks from decree nisi to decree absolute). reflects consultation respondents’ views that couples ‘feel divorced’ when the court grants the provisional decree of divorce (the ‘decree nisi’). This will provide a meaningful period of reflection and the opportunity to turn back. Where divorce is inevitable, it will better enable couples to reach agreement on practical arrangements for the future.

Courts will retain the power to expedite the process where appropriate

 

PLEASE ALSO NOTE THE RECENT CHANGES IN THE TERMINOLOGY – on the “Divorce Glossary” page/tab.