We were treated to episode three of The Split last night which explored two new issues which frequently arise in practice.
As we continue to follow the divorce of Fi and Richie Hansen, it is becoming very clear that Fi has been the victim of “coercive control” and as a result, steps need to be taken to protect her. Coercive Control became a criminal offence in 2015 under the Serious Crime Act and we see lots of examples in this episode which demonstrate the controlling behaviour Fi has been subject to during the marriage. Richie controls Fi’s activities and movements, repeatedly puts her down, calls her names and makes disparaging remarks about her appearance and intelligence. Relevant to this couple, is also the threat that Richie will publish information about Fi – she tells Hannah this must be related to a couple of “parties in the 1990’s” but we get the feeling she is covering something up. The point here is that Richie’s threat to bring this out into the public eye is a further example of his controlling behaviour.
Hannah and her barrister Husband Nathan, are already putting things in place to protect Fi and have drafted a Non-Molestation Order ready to file at Court immediately. A Non-Molestation Order is a civil injunction which aims to protect a victim of domestic violence. If Hannah and Nathan proceed with that application, the order could prevent Richie from contacting or communicating with Fi, directly or indirectly via text, WhatsApp or social media, will prevent him using threatening or abusive language and could prevent him from coming within a certain distance of the family home.
These applications can be submitted without notice – so Richie would get notice after the Order had been made or he could be given formal notice of the application, in which case, we would also attend court with his legal team to try and negotiate the terms of the order or its strength.
Meanwhile, the sub-plot this week covers the marriage of two young men who met in rehab and fell happily in love. Their relationship has blossomed very quickly, and we learn that they married after just 12 weeks of meeting. Hannah and Nina are summoned to a meeting with the newlyweds and one of their irate mothers. Perhaps understandably, the mother is outraged at the speedy marriage and the fact that her son’s new spouse could potentially have claims on the family wealth – a sizeable company with a £2 billion turnover.
We see Hannah explain that this marriage cannot be annulled and is not void because the necessary criteria are not satisfied. The marriage can only be void if the newlyweds are closely related, both under 16 or one spouse was already married. Equally, it can only be voidable if the marriage was not consummated or one party did not properly consent. Therefore, to the mother’s alarm, her argument that they “lacked mental capacity” as a result of being in rehab was not sufficient. We won’t give out any spoilers as to how the mother dealt with her new son-in-law, but in fact, Hannah’s suggestion that they put in place a post-nup to help regulate the future claims the new spouse might bring was a very sensible one and by far the most appropriate way forward. We discussed the subject of pre- and post-nups in our first blog so have a look at that one to learn more.
This episode accurately captures the fear and often, the danger a divorcing spouse, in this case, Fi Hansen might face when embarking on the divorce process. However, we see via Hannah and Nathan that is perfectly possible to put things in place very quickly to offer a high level of protection and support. We see that Hannah is providing a very high level of emotional support for Fi, and this is something we hope our team replicate, particularly in those very difficult initial few weeks of the process.