Everything you need to know about the New Divorce Rules
What are the new divorce law changes?
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 provides the option of no-fault divorce in England and Wales and this new law has come into force on the 6th of April 2022. The aim for this act is to end the blame game of the current divorce procedure and try to lessen the impact of the allegations that the blame game can have on the parties to the marriage and more importantly the children.
The previous divorce system in place in England and Wales was Regulated by Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Section 3 of the Matrimonial Causes Act stipulated that a spouse was prohibited to petition for a divorce until they have been married for one year, after which one spouse (the petitioner) is to start the process of filing for divorce.
Once proceeding have started the petitioner is then required to make an accusation about the other spouses (the respondent) conduct, particularly establishing a fault-based fact in order to prove the marriage broke down irretrievably this is required under section 1 sub-section 1 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973.
Section 1 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 provided 3 reasons that can be relied upon adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion, if one of these 3 reasons cannot be proven then the parties seeking divorce face two or five years of living apart in a separation period before the marriage can be legally dissolved.
No Fault Divorce Explained
The new Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 now instead of having to assign blame to one party a couple can mutually cite “ irretrievable break down” as a sole ground for seeking a divorce, section 1 subsection 3 of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 stipulates that a Court must take the statement to be conclusive evidence that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and make a divorce order. This prevents the respondent having to contest the divorce, which can be a benefit to domestic violence victims by preventing such victims from being trapped by their abusive spouse by contesting the divorce.
Either one party or both parties will be able to provide the statement of the breakdown of the marriage and the new law does not require any evidence about bad behaviour.
The Old Divorce Process vs the New Divorce Process
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 replaces the confusing and complex procedure of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. Under section 1 subsection (5) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 states every decree of divorce shall in the first instance be a decree nisi ( Confirmation from the court you are legally entitled to a divorce), however under section 1 subsection (4)(a) of the Divorce, Dissolution and separation Act 2020 replaces decree nisi with conditional order, the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 also replaces decree absolute ( Courts order officially ending a marriage) with final order of divorce.
In order to attain a divorce, under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 section 3 subsection (1) a spouse is prohibited to petition for a divorce until they have been married for one year, however the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 does not provide a time scale for when an application for divorce can be filled however, under section 1 subsection (5) of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 stipulates the Court will not make a conditional order until the petitioner has confirmed they wish for the application to continue, however the party may not give confirmation before the end of the period of 20 weeks from the start of proceedings, This provides the parties reflection time or time to agree practical arrangements surrounding the divorce.
Further on the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 under section1 subsection (4) states, a divorce order will not be made final before the end of the period of 6 weeks from the making of the conditional order, this also provides the couples time to makes sure divorce is what they want.
Benefits of the new divorce process
The no fault divorce is a benefit to society as the current law was passed in 1973 and society has changed drastically since then people’s attitude to marriage and divorce was different. The fact that under the current law of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 a couple who fail to establish their marriage breakdown is due to at least one of the reasons provided under Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 is forced to stay together even if they tried to make their marriage work but have been unsuccessful is unfair, and so the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 is a huge benefit because simply removing the blame from divorce proceedings make the divorce process quick and easy.
The no fault divorce has the potential effect of preventing situations where the law exacerbates conflict and harm to an already fragile relationship, especially when dealing with other issues that inevitably arise from the breakdown of a marriage including arrangements for the children of the family and matrimonial finances.
How can our Divorce Solicitors help you with the new Divorce Process?
The new no fault divorce has changed the rules on seeking a divorce and although the aim is to make it easier to get divorced, these changes are the some of the biggest changes that take place in Family law. Our divorce lawyers can help you navigate the complex laws of family and divorce law you can book a free 20-minute consultation to go through the process with a member of the SMQ family law team. We can also help you by providing full legal representation on a fixed fee basis, so you do not have to deal with this by yourself.