The Ministry of Justice has launched a 12 week consultation to introduce No fault divorce as quickly as possible.
Gone will be the need to allege fault and spouses will be stripped of their right to defend a divorce.
It is considered archaic to have to blame the other party in order to obtain a divorce. It causes all sorts of psychological issues with children and can tear apart extended families. Solicitors have to explain to their clients that in order to get a divorce (unless you have lived apart for 2 years and you both consent), you have to find a reason. When the reasons are filed at court, the other party can naturally get very upset and it makes the whole process unnecessarily painful. Newbold Solicitors will update you when the law is changed to make a divorce easier and quicker to obtain and less expensive.
Read the full story
Divorce laws in England and Wales are set to be overhauled under government plans seeking to allow couples to split up more quickly and with less acrimony.
This will be the biggest shake up to Family laws in 50 years. With the campaign for no fault divorce gathering momentum and making front page news in The Times on Saturday 8th September 2018.
The current system means a person seeking a divorce has to provide their marriage has irretrievably broken down by proving their spouse partner has committed adultery, behaved unreasonably, deserted them for two years, lived apart for two years with their consent or you have lived apart for 5 years.
This can cause acrimony or a period where your live is in limbo . The Owens case featuring in the news means a wife has to remain married until 2020 as the court didn’t accept she had sufficient grounds to proceed with her unreasonable behaviour divorce petition which was defended by her husband. Under the current law without a spouses consent the only way to get divorced is to live apart for 5 years.
The ministry of justice will seek to end the right of spouses to contest a divorce and consult on how long the parties need to wait before being entitled to one.
Read the full story here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-45452146
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/past-six-days/2018-09-08/news/fault-based-divorce-to-be-scrapped-in-family-law-overhaul-k5l9t96cx
Currently couples who wish to split must cite a reason that the marriage is unviable, such as unreasonable behaviour or adultery on the part of one party.
A recent law firm revealed that three out of ten people going through divorce lie about the reasons for their marriage breakdown.
The full story is available here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6061279/Divorcees-speed-proceedings-lying-poll-finds.html
If you require advice and/or assistance contact our Lisa Evans on 0330 123 1131 who can provide specialist legal advice on the process and grounds for divorce.
Litigants in person (i.e. people who represent themselves in a Court case), should be aware, that whilst it is relatively easy to complete the divorce petition and there are many firms or on-line agents who provide you with the documents and a brief explanation of the grounds (Owens -v- Owens has changed that somewhat because proving a ground is not always that easy), it is still important that the finances are sorted before the Decree Absolute (DA) is obtained. If you obtain a DA before the financial provisions are sorted, it could have a severe detrimental long term effect on your future security. If the pension rights are not sorted before the divorce is made absolute, then the spouse could lose all rights. Is it worth the risk? Our family page explains the divorce procedure.
In a recent Court ruling (the case of Mills-v-Mills), the Court found that Mrs Mills could no longer look to her husband as her 'meal ticket for life' and that she has a duty to make her own financial provisions in the long term. Although this case involves a husband and a wife, it could work equally regardless of the gender. It now appears that the Court is more inclined to order a clean break between the parties. A clean break means that the Court divides the financial pot at the end of the divorce process, so it gives more certainty to the parties for their future. It is now important that anyone in a long term relationship makes provision for their future rather than rely upon the support of their spouse. Obviously, if this is impossible, then the parties require robust legal advice and support. Lis Evans can assist you if you have any queries regarding this case and how it effects you.