Justice Secretary David Gauke has announced an end to ‘blame game’ divorce, under major reforms due to become law as soon as parliamentary time allows.
Family lawyers welcomed the proposals, which will remove fault from the divorce process, make irretrievable breakdown the sole ground for divorce, introduce joint divorce applications and remove the ability of one spouse to contest a divorce.
The two-stage legal process of decree nisi and decree absolute will be retained, but a minimum six-month timeframe will be introduced between petition stage and final divorce. The process for determining financial provision will not be affected by the reforms.
‘Hostility and conflict between parents leave their mark on children and can damage their life chances,’ Gauke said.
‘While we will always uphold the institution of marriage, it cannot be right that our outdated law creates or increases conflict between divorcing couples. So I have listened to calls for reform and firmly believe now is the right time to end this unnecessary blame game for good.’
Currently, a person seeking a divorce must prove one of five facts: adultery, behaviour, desertion, two years’ separation if their spouse consents to the divorce, and five years’ separation without consent.
Under the proposed changes, the requirement to prove a fact would be replaced with a statement of irretrievable breakdown.
The announcement follows a 12-week consultation, ‘Reducing Family Conflict: reform of the legal requirements for divorce’, which closed in December 2018. Family lawyers’ longstanding calls for fault-free divorce strengthened last July after the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed Tini Owens’ attempt to divorce her husband, Hugh, in Owens v Owens [2018] UKSC 41.
Official figures show 47% of divorce petitions in 2016-18 used the behaviour fact. Less than 2% of divorces are contested. About 10% of divorces between 2011-2018 reached decree nisi within eight weeks, and 30% between nine and 13 weeks.
Family law solicitor and NLJ columnist David Burrows said: ‘Questions remain: how is “blame” eliminated if irretrievable breakdown is the only ground?
‘How is breakdown to be proved [see 'Owens & how to plead a divorce case, NLJ 9 August 2018]? And how to prevent someone “contesting a divorce”?’
Graeme Fraser, partner at London law firm OGR Stock Denton, said: ‘For decades, family lawyers have pointed out to policymakers that apportioning blame for the end of the marriage serves no useful purpose and only increases family conflict.
‘The new law should help many thousands of couples reach the end of their marriage in a better way without suffering the emotional fallout that can detrimentally affect them and their children through the process and afterwards.’
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