Wife trapped in a loveless marriage
THE change in the law comes too late for Tini Owens, 68, who says she is trapped in a loveless marriage.
The Supreme Court backed Hugh Owens’s right to refuse her a divorce, meaning they must stay married for five years after separating before they can legally split. Judges ruled a joyless marriage is not adequate grounds for divorce if one spouse refuses to agree to it.
Mrs Owens, who is Dutch-born, and Mr Owens, 81, from Liverpool, married in 1978 and have two children.
The couple built up a £5million-a-year mushroom business but he was accused of putting work before home life, missing family events. He was described as moody and argumentative, and Mrs Owens increasingly ‘unloved, isolated and alone’.
Very unhappy, in 2012 she had a tenmonth affair, and in 2015 filed for divorce. The case reached the Supreme Court last year. Lord Justice Wilson said they ruled against her with ‘great reluctance’ and said the law around ‘entitlement to divorce’ was a ‘question for Parliament’.
Divorce lawyer Ayesha Vardag said: ‘This kind of law has no place in a civilised society of equals. We do not allow forced marriage. How can we force continuation of marriage?’