No Fault divorce: what does it mean?
On 6 April 2022 the new law on no-fault divorce in the UK will bring long-awaited reforms to an area of law that has not changed since 1973.
At the time of publishing this article there has been no guidance sent out from HMCTS so family lawyers are still awaiting news of how the new process for divorce will work.
What does ‘no fault’ mean in divorce?
Until now divorcing couples who have been separated for less than two years have to rely on either adultery or unreasonable behaviour to progress a divorce. The law has been criticised for many years for being outdated and unnecessarily stirring up conflict between couples. In the vast majority of cases, there is no such conflict – the couple naturally drifts apart or decides they want different things in life.
Many legal professionals feel current divorce law is out of date, and the decision in the case of Owens v Owens in 2018, whereby a decision not to grant a divorce was upheld, heightened these concerns.
The new divorce law has been criticised on the basis it will encourage people to give up too easily on their marriages. The vast majority of divorce lawyers believe that taking away blame will not have this effect. Instead, it will help those who decide that their marriage or civil partnership is beyond hope of reconciliation to deal with the legal and practical consequences without getting caught up in the ‘blame game’.
The impact of ‘no fault’ divorce
There remains a common misconception that ‘fault’ will materially impact a financial award. The simple truth is that ‘bad’ behaviour is rarely considered relevant when calculating what a financial settlement should be. Similarly, being the party ‘at fault’ in the divorce, will not, of itself, affect the arrangements for the children.
The new law
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 will:-
Require couples to provide a statement of irretrievable breakdown;
Remove the possibility of contesting the divorce;
Introduce an option for a joint application for a decree;
Make sure language is in plain English, for example, changing ‘decree nisi’ to conditional order and ‘decree absolute’ to final order.
Will a ‘no fault’ divorce be quicker?
We understand that the process will take six months to obtain a final divorce order. Accordingly it is not likely to be any quicker than the current process (putting aside the delays in the overburdened court system).
Couples will still need to agree a financial settlement and decide on suitable arrangements for their children. This is no less difficult in a ‘no fault’ divorce than in any other kind of divorce.
Waiting for ‘no fault’ divorce
If you are ready to divorce now, it may well be sensible to go ahead with a petition under the ‘old’ system unless you are concerned about the impact on your relationship with your spouse of suggesting he or she is at fault.
There is some concern about further delay as the introduction of the ‘new’ system has already been delayed once.
We hope to have more news shortly and will update this article in the coming weeks.