Advice Centre
No Fault Divorce Becomes a Reality in England and Wales, and Melissa Jones joins Resolution family lawyers organisation
Back in March you might have caught our article “No-fault’ divorce to spare couples the emotional stress of finding blame” where we discussed the proposed radical changes to the law divorce laws in England and Wales. Fast-forward to today, and you may have heard that there is going to be a thorough overhaul of the divorce process. Instead of pointing fingers following the breakdown of a marriage and finding fault, spouses may now simply state that the marriage has broken down.
We discussed previously that the reform will spare couples the emotional stress and strain of finding blame for a ‘behaviour’ petition, resulting in more divorces ending amicably – in theory.
Melissa Jones, Head of the Family Department at IMD Solicitors shares her views:
“It is a much welcomed reform and will, in my view, better assists spouses when dealing with other aspects that come with the breakdown of a marriage, such as splitting the finances and agreeing child arrangements. It really does not need to be as difficult as many think”.
The courts of England and Wales will fall in line with countries such as Australia, the USA and Spain divorce without blame is already endorsed.
UK Divorce – Facts
Some divorce facts to consider, courtesy of Resolution:
- There are over 100,00- divorces each year
- 95,000 children were affected by a divorce in 2013 (ONS 2015)
- Fault is associated with shorter marriages, and evidence shows that fault enables a quick exit from a marriage (Finding Fault, 2017)
Resolution Member
This overhaul comes in the same week that Melissa Jones joined Resolution: an organisation of family lawyers and other professionals in England and Wales who believe in a constructive, non-confrontational approach to family law matters.
Indeed, it has been the endless campaigning of Resolution that really focused the issue, and in turn the government carefully considered the proposals they put forward.
For further information, please contact our Family Team on 0330 107 0107 or info@imd.co.uk who will be happy to help.
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.
