The new “no fault divorce” legislation is coming into force on 6 April 2022. Resolution, of which all of our Family Law Team are members, has long campaigned to obtain changes to the current divorce procedure, by removing the need to “blame” one party. The new legislation will make the following changes to divorce proceedings:
- You will only have to state the marriage has irretrievably broken down and will not now need to establish one of the five facts i.e. behaviour, adultery, separation for 2 or 5 years, and desertion
- The respondent will no longer be able to contest the divorce
- You and your spouse/ civil partner will be able to make a joint application where the matter is consensual
- There will be a minimum of 20 weeks between making the application and the divorce becoming final
- The language used in divorce proceedings with be in plain English, for example, changing ‘decree nisi’ to conditional order and ‘decree absolute’ to final order
This will certainly benefit the resolution of matters in a more timely and efficient manner. No-fault divorce should reduce conflict, thereby allowing couples to focus on important issues like children, property and finances.
If you are ready to divorce, our advice would be to consider going ahead with it. As we are all members of Resolution, our aim is always going to be to amicably resolving the matter without being confrontational towards the other side. Whenever we prepare a divorce petition, we ensure this is agreed in advance to remove the possibility of any animosity arising.
Please do get in touch with one of our Family Department if you have any other queries or wish us to assist you on your divorce. We are here to help you in these complicated times.
