Sadly, if you are experiencing abuse in your marriage, you are far from being alone with research suggesting that as many as one in four women and one in eight men will experience abuse while married. You may be considering divorcing your abusive spouse.
‘Ending
an abusive marriage will mean not only leaving your spouse, but also formally
divorcing them,’ says Iwona Durlak, family law expert with IMD Solicitors LLP in
London. ‘This is a daunting but important step, as studies have shown that
abusive partners do not often change their ways and so your circumstances are unlikely
to change if you remain in your marriage.’
Guiding You Through The Divorce Process
As
well as guiding you through the legal process of divorce, we will be on your
side providing practical advice too. We
are connected with a wide range of support services and can introduce you to
people who will help you to find a safe place to stay, if required, and find
out if you are eligible for any state benefits. It is natural to be concerned
about money, but you may well be eligible for Legal Aid to cover your legal
costs.
Five Ways That A Marriage Has Broken Down Irretrievably
To
obtain a divorce, you must be able to show the marriage has broken down
irretrievably. There are five ways this
can be shown, namely:
one
partner has deserted the other;
there
has been adultery;
one
partner is guilty of unreasonable behaviour;
you
have been living apart for at least two years and you both consent to divorce;
or
you
have been living apart for at least five years.
When There Is Domestic Violence Or Abuse
Where there is domestic violence or other abuse within the marriage, then the most common way to proceed is to provide evidence of the unreasonable behaviour. It is necessary to show that your spouse has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to continue to live with them.
Your
solicitor will take a history of your
relationship so that they are able to describe a few significant incidents to
demonstrate to the court the abusive and unreasonable behaviour of your spouse. You will not be expected to state each and
every incident over the course of your marriage, but just highlight a few representative
examples. You may find it helpful to keep a diary of incidents, or to make some
notes showing a timeline of the unreasonable behaviour.
Most of the time you will not
have to attend a court unless the divorce is contested by your spouse. Even if
they contest the divorce, it is normally possible to agree a way forward which
avoids having to attend court.
Divorce Hearings In Open Court
Divorce
hearings are not held in open court, but behind closed doors. This means that members of the public will
not be present. It is possible that some
accredited members of the media could attend the hearing, but there are strict
restrictions on what they would be allowed to report.
Divorce On The Grounds Of Unreasonable Behaviour
When
applying for a divorce on the basis of unreasonable behaviour, there are
certain time limits that must be adhered to.
If you have continued to live together, you must petition within six
months of the last incident of abuse. If
you are no longer living together, this time limit may be extended.
Being
able to apply straight away is one of the main advantages of issuing an
unreasonable behaviour divorce.
The
other main advantage is that you may be able to secure an order from the court
stipulating that your spouse pays some or even all of your legal costs for the
divorce.
Impact Of Unreasonable Behaviour On The Division of Matrimonial Assets
It is a common misconception that if your spouse has behaved unreasonably during your marriage they will be penalised when it comes to the division of the matrimonial assets. This is not the case, and it is unlikely that your experience of domestic abuse will lead to an increase in your financial entitlements. It is only in rare and extreme cases that a court will look at an adjustment of matrimonial assets based on the conduct of your spouse.
The court has to be convinced that their conduct was so bad, it cannot be ignored. For example, this may be if the domestic violence has caused significant personal injury to you.
Facing
abuse from the person that is meant to love you most commonly leads to a lack
of confidence and self-doubt, but the law recognises the need to protect and
help victims, and our courts are investing more in ensuring victims of domestic
violence are given much needed support.
Our Divorce Solicitors Can Help You With Divorcing An Abusive Spouse
Our expert and compassionate divorce solicitors in our family law team can help you with divorcing an abusive spouse. Taking the first step towards divorce can be daunting, but our team can guide you through the divorce process and protect your interests throughout any subsequent divorce proceedings.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.
F v F - Acted for a German husband in a complex financial remedy matter. He decided to instruct IMD Solicitors after he had lost trust in his previously instructed solicitors and feared that he would not achieve a favourable outcome from the proceedings. The relevant assets were spread across the globe with some located in the UK (including a multi-million pound business), Gibraltar, Spain, Dubai, and Poland. The overall value of assets exceeded £24 million. The husband had been cut off from the matrimonial assets and excluded from control of the business that had been established by his family. The case involved the instruction of numerous experts, for business valuations, Capital Gains Tax reports, and opinions on the enforcement of orders in foreign jurisdictions, and dealing with several applications, including applications for orders to freeze assets, prevent the disposition of assets, for the joinder of parties, and to litigate conduct issues. The final result exceeded the client’s expectations.
L v L - We were instructed by a mother in a complex international children matter. She was required by orders of the UK courts to return the child to the UK from Poland. She had travelled with the child to Poland but, following unsuccessful application to extend her stay there in August 2017, she decided not to return to the UK because the child disclosed sexual abuse by a member of the paternal family and the father. In September 2018, the Polish court dismissed the father’s Hague Convention application for the child's return on the basis of Article 13(b), a decision which the father appealed. In March 2019, the father applied to the UK High Court for an order for the child’s return pursuant to the procedure set out in Article 11(6) – (8) of the Brussels IIA Regulation. Despite the father's unsuccessful Hague Convention application in Poland, the UK court ordered the return of the child. Article 11 does not allow the court of the returning country much discretion. After all of this, the mother instructed IMD Solicitors to apply to discharge the orders of the UK Court for the return of the child. Even in the face of the fact that most applications to discharge such return orders fail, we succeeded. We are currently awaiting a decision in the UK courts on a further application for the transfer of jurisdiction to the Polish courts where the mother resides with the child.
G v P - We represent a Spanish mother in respect of an urgent application for a Child Arrangements Order and Specific Issue Order in the UK seeking the relocation of the child to Spain. This was after the return of the child to the UK under Hague Convection proceedings which this mother lost in Spain.
She was asking for an order for the relocation of the child back to Spain and an urgent interim Child Arrangements Order to allow her to see the child pending the final outcome of the UK proceedings. IMD successfully argued that, regardless of the return of the child to the UK under the Hague Convention, the mother should be allowed unsupervised overnight contact with the child. We were delighted to be able to secure her contact with the child for Christmas and she said that it was the best Christmas gift she could have wished for. The outcome of the application for the relocation is pending.
S v V - We currently represent the father in Child Arrangements Order proceedings issued by the mother in relation to variation of a UK order made in the face of numerous other international proceedings. He is an Italian National who has been living in France for the last 20 years and the mother is a Lithuanian national. The child is now 11 years old and proceedings concerning the child have been ongoing in various jurisdictions for the majority of the child`s life. Contested divorce proceedings including child arrangements took place in Monaco. The French Court and authorities were also involved, and various proceedings had been ongoing between parties since 2013 in France and Monaco.
The parties’ divorce was pronounced in Monaco. Thereafter, in December 2020, the mother submitted an application to relocate to England with the child, and the relocation took place in June 2021. Upon relocation, the she lodged a child arrangement order application, seeking to register a judgment made in Monaco and to vary the same in respect of the contact arrangements between the father and the child. The father seeks for the child’s return to Monaco.
Due to the parties’ mutual allegations and the associated international elements, various authorities and courts that have been involved in the case, the local authority has become involved with the family and a guardian has been instructed to represent the child in the UK proceedings. At present, these proceedings in England are ongoing and the outcome of the professional reports regarding the family are awaited.
P v P - We have acted for the Respondent Husband in relation to the financial remedy proceedings in the UK. The parties had various assets in the UK and Romania consisting mainly of the portfolio of properties but conduct issues were raised by the Wife due to a business of the Husband over which she had lost control and her allegations of dissipation of assets. The value of assets excluding the business were in a region of £3 million.
K v K - We act in financial remedy proceedings for a wife who is a Polish national. The matter's complexity mainly comes from a dispute between the parties around land in Poland. Its value was initially in dispute but was then assessed by a joint expert to be in the region of half a million pounds. The total assets in this case are estimated to be worth over £1 million. The land in Poland is a subject to contract with a third party and is being leased as a photovoltaic (solar) farm. The division of the land to achieve an equal share of the assets is complicated due to the contract in place and plans for the future use of the land. Currently the parties are awaiting a final hearing but efforts are being made to reach a settlement with the aid of alternative dispute resolution and in order to save the parties money and avoid further delays.
R v O - We acted pro bono and worked together with a law firm in Poland to ensure that the Costa Rican Mother regains access to her child. The Mother's only child was abducted from the UK in 2014. The Mother was successful with the abduction case and the UK family courts ordered the return of the child. The orders were recognised in Poland but unfortunately due to various issues with the Mother's immigration status and court's delays in Poland, the orders were never enforced. The Mother was facing removal from the UK and prospects of never seeing her child again. We have corresponded with various courts in Poland dealing with international abduction matters and we decided that an application for contact should be issued rather than any proceedings for further enforcement of the orders, as the Mother had not seen the child for around 7 years. At the same we secured the Mother's stay in the UK making successful outside of immigration rules application to extend her stay. We now receive regular photos from the Mother with her daughter, as face to face contact is taking place. We helped to secure an order of the Polish courts for the Mother to see the child regularly in person, whilst when she instructed us she was facing a prospect of never seeing her child again and being deported to Costa Rica.
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