Lawyers in England and Wales are getting ready for an increase in divorce cases given new legislation allowing couples to end their marriage without having to pin the blame on on each other.
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 will come into effect in April in England and Wales. The Act 2020 will be the greatest reform of divorce law in fifty years and means that you’ll no longer have to make claims about your partner’s behavior to obtain a divorce. Currently one spouse must allege adultery or unreasonable behaviour to prove the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage or wait at least two years.
Couples will be in a position to cite the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage as the only ground for divorce, eliminating the need for one party to attribute fault to the other. Under the new law irretrievable breakdown will be the only reason for divorce but the need to give a reason will be removed. Couples can make a joint application where they both consent the relationship has broken down or, alternatively, one person can apply. There will be a minimum of 20 weeks between issuing and reaching the first stage of the divorce to give a period of reflection and the possibility of reconciliation.
The government had initially anticipated that the laws would be implemented by autumn 2021, however improvements to court IT systems and legal procedure rules caused delays.
The bill, initially passed in June 2020, will likely enable thousands of couples to split cleanly free of the need to place accountability for the breakdown on one party, or to remain stuck for many years in unhappy marriages.
Separating couples need to under existing law either live separately for a considerable period of time or demonstrate that one party is “at fault” as a result of of adultery, desertion, or “unreasonable behaviour” in order to part lawfully.
If one particular party does not give approval, the couple must live separately for five years until a divorce can proceed.
A number of other jurisdictions, like as South Africa, Australia, Canada and some US states, currently have no-fault divorce laws — however many others do not, such as Singapore the United Arab Emirates and 33 US states.
In 2017, an academic report entitled Finding Fault? by Liz Trinder, a professor at Exeter University, uncovered that around 48 per cent of divorces in 2015 were granted as a result of of “unreasonable behaviour”.
She found in other jurisdictions particularly France and Scotland, the use of “fault” in divorce proceedings was a one-tenth of that in England and Wales.
Article by Bertus Preller, International Divorce Lawyer at Maurice Phillips Wisenberg Inc., in Cape Town South Africa. Founder of Divorce Laws.