The UK government has enacted the Divorce, Dissolution and Separate Act 2020 following the bill’s final passage through the House of Commons.
The Act brings the UK’s divorce laws into the 21st century, in line with many other countries, bringing with it the concept of no-fault divorce. The date for the act coming into force is still not finalised but is anticipated in autumn 2021.
The 2020 act supersedes 1973’s Matrimonial Causes Act on divorce which states that the only grounds for divorce are that “the marriage has irretrievably broken down”. The breakdown, however, had to be supported by one of five facts, and only two of them allowed a petition for divorce to be issued immediately following separation: “adultery” and “unreasonable behaviour”.The remaining three require a stipulated period of separation as well as the presentation of a petition, namely: “desertion for a period of two years”, “two-year separation where both parties consent”, and a “five-year separation where consent is not required”.
The 2020 Act still requires one of the parties involved to declare that the marriage has “irretrievably broken down”, however they will not have to provide reams of information proving the other party’s unreasonable behaviour. It will simply require one or both parties giving a statement to the court confirming that the marriage has broken down, and the court is obliged to accept that statement.
The decrees nisi and absolute have been renamed to Conditional Order and Final Order, but will still apply, with a minimum 20 week period from the initial date of the petition to the Conditional Order, then another six weeks to the Final Order, meaning a total 26 week period before a divorce can be finalised. It is thought that this period is to help alleviate concerns of those who think that making divorce too easy may impact on the serious nature of the commitment of marriage.
Many family lawyers have welcomed the Act’s introduction, meaning much of the conflict can be reduced from the outset with the option of not getting into a tit-for-tat blame game. This is particularly important where children are involved. If a couple wishes to dissolve their marriage simply because they have fallen out of love or grown apart, they now have the option to do so.
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