Article| Kent and Surrey Family Resolution

Focus on the important

The Government move towards no fault divorce will remove the outdated blame games, simplify current practices and reduce conflict between couples. This will in turn lessen subsequent negative effects on children of couples who wish to divorce. It gives scope to allow couples to focus on important issues like children, property and finances.

These changes would also apply to the dissolution of civil partnerships.

How did this happen?

The Ministry of Justice issued a consultation on its plans in September 2018. The consultation closed in December 2018. In April 2019 the government published its response to the consultation and confirmed that it would go ahead with the planned changes by introducing new legislation.

What is the response?

It was welcomed by Resolution, the national family justice body. The move will brings us in line with countries like Australia and the US. Earlier in 2019 the Lord Chancellor indicated the responses to the consultation had been “overwhelmingly supportive,” confirming plans to introduce legislation in the next Parliamentary session.

What this means in practice?

Following reform, a couple or one party would only need to notify the court that their marriage has irretreivably broken down.

The ‘five facts’ would be removed:

Adultery,

Unreasonable behaviour,

Desertion,

Separation of more than two years (if spouse consents),

Separation of at least five years (no consent required).

The government also plans to:

Allow couples to give notice jointly; Allow joint applications to become sole applications (and vice versa); Remove the ability for one person to contest a divorce; Retain the two stage process of decree nisi and decree absolute; Introduce a minimum timeframe of six months from petition to decree absolute; Modernise the language used in the divorce process.

What about Brexit causing delays?

As the UK tries to negotiate its own non-confrontational divorce from the EU, the Chair of Resolution (National Family Justice Body) Margaret Heathcote has warned of the dangers of Brexit negotiations hijacking the parliamentary time needed to pass the changes to divorce law. At Resolution’s annual conference she said: “every day that passes sees thousands of couples at risk of needless acrimony and denied the right to a kinder divorce process.”