Campaign slams no-fault divorces
CAMPAIGN group Fathers4justice has denounced “no-fault” divorces as a sham that will just make “a bad situation worse”.
The Ministry of Justice describes the change which has just come into force in England and Wales as the biggest shake-up in divorce law in more than half a century.
It hopes it will ease stress and spare children the sight of their parents “mudslinging”.
Matt O’connor, who founded Fathers4justice in 2001, expects the move will “speed up the process” but says it is a “grotesque misrepresentation” to suggest it will end the “blame game”. Under the reform, a spouse or a couple can apply for divorce by stating their marriage has broken down irretrievably. There is no longer a requirement to apportion blame.
Mr O’connor argues this will not spare families arguments over child custody, the division of assets or future support. He expects it will lead to a spike in divorces and is concerned by research suggesting divorced men are more likely to take their lives.
He said: “Fathers, men, will be removed from their homes, their kids and their cash quicker than ever and the problems will simply be displaced from the divorce courts into the family courts. That’s what’s
going to happen.” A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Our landmark reforms will reduce conflict by removing the need for couples to blame each other for the breakdown of their marriage.”
Divorce is likely to be much talked about after the return of the hit BBC legal drama The Split for its final series.a tricky divorce is centre stage for the show’s main lawyering couple, Nathan and Hannah, played by Stephen Mangan and Nicolawalker.
For them, separating after 20 years is difficult, said Mangan. “Your lives are so intricately threaded together, to unpick all that is impossible.”
Walker doesn’t believe women can “have it all”, the show’s recurrent theme. “What looks perfect on the outside, you scratch it and it’s all very complicated. No one can have it all, no man, no woman, no one.”
The Split is on BBC One, tomorrow, at 9pm