No fault divorce

[atr79gb]

I read that this bill is now at committee stage in the House of Commons.

If approved, this would then need to go to the House of Lords.

Does anyone know what a realistic approximate timeframe might be for this bill to be enacted into UK law?

Given the state of politics at the moment, no time soon.

They need to find parliamentary time to do it. That will be taken up with Brexit and brexit legislation as well as the things promised by either of 2 new leaders.

It is part of this governments agenda, not the next governments. So if there is a change in government it may be delayed or dropped.

You can use unreasonable behaviour and the reasons can be pretty much anything where you don’t get on. I don’t really see the difference. Nobody else can see that document anyway.

I don’t really see the difference

Difference is that the grounds for unreasonable behaviour can be challenged by the person who is being blamed even if they too want a divorce. Some couples divorce each other as they don't want to be seen as the sole cause of the breakdown of the marriage. Means paying two lots of court fees.

The Owens case in UK demonstrated the need for no fault divorce to be allowed in my view whereby both partners mutually agree it is over without the need to give specific reasons.

Under the present system a partner can be forced to wait 5 years before a divorce is deemed to be effective. Means living apart for 5 years which some people may not be able to afford.

The Owens case was in England and Wales. Scotland has better divorce laws so it is not used internationally to screw either partner.

The reasons on the form can be very much watered down in order to get the agreement of the second party. “He was cold and distant”. Etc. Solicitors send a draft to get agreement before submitting forms to court. In the Owens case the husband just did not want to divorce. Most people are more realistic and see that if it’s over there is no point fighting. The reasons are not made public.

The planned change would mean Mrs Owens could get her divorce more quickly. But as the law stands she could still divorce after five years.

Brexit is going to delay it massively, but it can't come soon enough. People should be able to end a relationship in a civil manner without having to apportion blame. In the Netherlands (where I'm from), a divorcing couple can use the same solicitor and the whole thing can be done and dusted in 6 weeks if both parties are in agreement.

Yes, the whole process takes too long and if there isn’t agreement then the lawyers cost too much. The system is unfair but then I also consider the entire marriage contract unfair and would never enter into it again. I don’t mind apportioning blame - my ex was most definitely in the wrong! But I think we are now at a stage in the U.K. where anyone can pull the plug on a marriage and nobody gives a damn what the reasons were.

Scotland has better divorce laws

Some might argue that Spousal Maintenance being limited to 3 years is unfair? In England courts can award joint lives Spousal Maintenance if needs require and means to pay are available. However, less common than it used to be.

I notice no fault divorce is again in the news.

Does anyone know when realistically this might become law?

I would expect this to be delayed by Brexit legislation. Also, as it's a new government, any progress made through the houses of commons and lords would be lost and the bill would have to be started from scratch.