The long awaited no-fault divorce process will now be available to use from 6 April 2022. This gives us much-needed certainty when advising our clients, despite being later than expected (the original announcement being that we should expect it this Autumn).
What is the ‘no-fault divorce’?
The change in the law championed by Resolution (the family lawyers’ association of which my colleagues and I are members) means a couple will be able to apply to end their marriage/civil partnership by a joint or sole application and without the need to explain why, except to say their marriage has broken down irretrievably.
Blame for the breakdown of the relationship will no longer need to be attributed to one spouse by the other where the couple have not lived apart for two years (as is the case currently). This change will help us start the process setting the right tone to enter into productive and amicable negotiations about finances and childcare arrangements.
Should you delay your divorce until this is in force?
Many clients ask me about this option now and, given that the divorce process itself takes 5+ months to complete (often longer where financial negotiations take longer to resolve) very few people take the decision to wait and we do not advise them to.
For many people, the divorce process is needed to enable financial claims through the court for interim financial support and delay is simply not an option. Limbo is not healthy for anyone and once the decision to separate is made, most people prefer to work towards formalising that and achieving financial independence sooner rather than later.
For now we will continue to work around the current archaic system, minimising and explaining the blame game as a means to an end, but with light at the end of the tunnel. We just hope there is no further delay.
Some people may be waiting until next April and we do expect to see a rise in new divorce cases when the simpler process is available as a result.