The Government today announced (09/04/19) after years of avoiding a decision to make new provisions to enact “no fault divorce”.
The current adversarial system means that husbands and wives had to allege adultery or unreasonable behaviour to start divorce proceedings immediately otherwise they had to wait for a minimum period of two years and prove either desertion or obtain the consent of their spouse. In the worst case scenario, in the absence of consent, they had to wait for 5 years.
The government has come under increasing pressure in the last 12 months from Resolution, the national association of family lawyers, of Family Lawyers for a change in the law following an unsuccessful attempt by a wife in the Supreme Court to insist on a divorce when her husband had forgiven her. The government spokesman David Gauke said “the changes will help end the blame game” and the government will always uphold the institution of marriage but it cannot be right that our outdated law creates or increases conflict between divorcing couples”.
The new law will provide for a timeframe of 6 months from the date a divorce petition is issued until the date of the decree absolute, with the applicant asked at that stage to confirm their wish to be divorced.
The move was welcomed by family lawyers across England and Wales who can now concentrate on resolving the more important issues such as long term housing for children and financial support for children and both parties after their marriage is dissolved.
For a free consultation on all aspects of family law including divorce issues, children and financial matters please do not hesitate to contact Sarah Jordan or David Williams for a free consultation on 01202 805211 or office@jwlaw.co.uk