No Fault Divorce s to become law on 6th April 2022 wrtes Ella Dodgson, Family Law Solicitor at Harrowells Solicitors

The largest reform of divorce law in fifty years will come into effect on 6th April 2022 with the introduction of no fault divorce. The new laws will mean that divorcing couples will no longer have to make allegations about their partner’s conduct to get divorced. Currently, one spouse must make allegations of adultery or unreasonable behaviour to obtain a divorce or wait a period of 2 or 5 years to commence divorce proceedings.

The welcomed reform will mean that separating couples will no longer need to give a reason for the breakdown of the marriage. Instead, separating couples can either make a joint or single application for a divorce confirming that their relationship has broken down irretrievably. This can only be heralded as a positive step that will remove blame and conflict.

The changes will allow couples to focus on important issues like children who are often the innocent victims of divorces fuelled by conflict. Evidence suggests that acrimonious divorces can impact on children’s health and wellbeing into their adulthood which puts greater pressure on government funded services.

People may be concerned that the reforms will make it quicker for unhappy couples to get divorced instead of working on their marriage. This is not necessarily the case. The reforms will also introduce a 20 week ‘cooling off’ period from the start of the proceedings and the date that the Court confirm that the parties are entitled to a divorce. This period is hoped to provide separating couples an opportunity for reflection and possible reconciliation. Where this is not possible, the period will provide separating couples time to plan and agree practical arrangements for the future.

We believe that there are many advantages to maintaining a positive relationship with your ex-partner during divorce proceedings which the existing divorce laws can obstruct. We hope that the new laws can end the bitter blame game and make it emotionally easier for separating couples to reach fair financial settlements and co-parent effectively.

Obviously these reforms will be beneficial to all divorcing couples when considering finances. It is important that divorcing couples ensure that they obtain specialist advice regarding finances during the divorce process as this can be a complex area. For example, we have highlighted previously, the legal and business complexity of a farming business means that it is best to seek advice from family law solicitors familiar with farming divorces and the specific issues that can arise.

A final point is that in our experience of advising clients both inside and outside farming, your divorce lawyer’s ability to get a handle on the issues and their ability to adopt the most appropriate negotiating style makes all the difference to reaching an effective agreement and outcome.