No default Bill to be put before Parliament on Friday 13 May

Divorce lawyers countrywide were bristling with anticipation in January 2016 for the second reading of the “no fault divorce” bill which was introduced by Richard Bacon MP. Due to the previous session of Parliament being so jammed full of other matters the reading was postponed. This will be before Parliament on Friday 13 May. Some politicians are suggesting that this will be very unlucky for marriages generally if it is passed.

What the “no fault divorce” bill does is to suggest that in addition to the current grounds for divorce which are set out under what is known as the Matrimonial Causes 1973 and contained within the Civil Partnership Act 2004, that there will be a further option for the parties to file a joint Petition with the written consent of both parties where there is no requirement to attach any fault or blame to the other.

It has long been felt by practitioners that the need for parties to artificially fit in to the current categories has been causing greater acrimony and distress for divorcing parties and sets the tone for the future financial disputes. Much has been argued against the legislation, that it will make divorce too easy and encourage people to end their marriages too quickly.

In order to deal with that issue, it is proposed in the new legislation that the Decree Nisi will not be able to be made Absolute until twelve months had elapsed in order to give the parties effectively a cooling off period.

The current grounds for divorce are the marriage has irretrievably broken down based on one or more facts these are: –

  • That the Respondent has committed adultery and the Petitioner finds it intolerable to live with the Respondent.
  • That the Respondent has behaved in such a way that the Petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the Respondent.
  • That the Respondent has deserted the Petitioner for a continuous period of at least two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition
  • That the parties to this marriage/civil partnership have lived apart for a continuous period of at least two years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition and the Respondent consents to a decree/order being granted
  • That the parties to this marriage/civil partnership have lived apart for a continuous period of at least five years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition.

What this legislation is seeking to do is to add in a clause 1(a) so that the parties would still have to demonstrate that the marriage has broken down, but provided that there is no coercion, and that the consent is freely given, then the issue of fault, blame and acrimony can be wiped out from that part of the proceedings.

For some years the whole issue of no fault divorce has been mooted before Parliament generally and has been repeatedly rejected particularly in view of the very strong religious body in Parliament. However, society has changed dramatically and research has clearly shown that many couples are forced into utilising the grounds of either adultery or unreasonable behaviour simply to obtain a divorce. Further that this issue can cause acrimony particularly in relation to the use of unreasonable behaviour petitions and will flow through into children’s issues, finances etc.

Given that the majority of the profession now believes that to include this ground will eradicate so many of the difficulties for which many lawyers are so often blamed unnecessarily, it is hoped that Parliament will follow through and act on the general will of the people.

Vanessa Lloyd Platt

© 12 May 2016

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