Q& A

What happens now?

Under the current law, which is 50 years old, there are two ways of getting a divorce. One is to wait – a couple can be divorced after two years of separation if both agree, or after five years if just one partner wants a divorce. For a quicker divorce, husbands and wives have to say their partner is to blame for the end of the marriage, or that it is their ‘fault’.

What is a ‘fault’?

There are three ‘fault’ grounds for divorce: adultery, unreasonable behaviour, or desertion. In recent years unreasonable behaviour, which can involve abuse, withholding sex, drunkenness or drug use, recklessness with money or even obsession with a hobby, has been the most popular.

How long does divorce take?

At present, a couple must wait at least a year after their wedding before one can start the process by filing a divorce petition. After that divorce can be over in just a few months, but an average divorce takes longer than a year.

What does the new law do?

The idea of ‘fault’ goes completely, and instead there will be just one ground for divorce: irretrievable breakdown. Divorce will be granted at the request of just one spouse, although a new option of a joint application from both husband and wife will be made available.

Can I delay things?

No. At present a partner reluctant to divorce can spin out the process for five years by ‘contesting’ the petition, though this only happens in about one in every 50 cases. Ministers say the ability to contest a divorce is exploited by controlling and coercive abusers, but evidence for this is slender. In the new system, the right to contest a divorce will go.

Will divorce be quicker?

Under the new system couples will still have to wait a year after the wedding before asking for a divorce. After that point, there will be a new minimum waiting period of six months enforced between the divorce petition and the split being legally finalised. This is designed to give people chance to change their minds.

The end of bitter battles?

Ministers say the ‘outdated’ fault-based law encourages an ‘unnecessary blame game’ which creates or increases conflict between divorcing couples. Critics say this is nonsense, and the real cause of conflict between warring couples is the fact of the breakdown of their marriage, and then arguments over property, money and children. The legal system for dividing property and arranging care of children of divorced couples will be unaltered by the reforms.

Are children better served?

Ministers say that children are damaged by hostility and conflict between parents. However a large body of evidence says that children are most damaged by the break-up of their home and the loss of one of their parents. A report at the weekend by the Centre for Social Justice think-tank found that people whose parents parted before they were 18 were twice as likely to fail at school, end up homeless or go to prison compared to children from families that had stayed together.