Government Urged to Review Divorce Law After Woman ordered to Stay Wed

06/08/2018

Despite being “wretchedly unhappy”, a woman who claims she is “trapped in a loveless marriage” can’t divorceher husband.

Tini Owens has been told she can only divorce husband, Hugh in 2020 after they have been separated for five years.

Mrs Owens, who has two children with her husband of 40 years, was denied her appeal to divorce by the Supreme Court even though she alleges her husband’s behaviour is so bad she can’t reasonably be expected to stay married.

During an earlier hearing Mrs Owens provided 27 examples of her husband’s unreasonable behaviour, but the judge ruled that her allegations were “flimsy and exaggerated”.

Judges at the Supreme Court warned that the question for Parliament was whether the law governing entitlement to divorce remained "satisfactory" and that it would have to decide whether to introduce no fault divorce on demand (see our related newsarticle dated 22/05/18).

Speaking of the ruling, Mrs Owens's solicitor said the Supreme Court “has missed an opportunity to assist Mrs Owens and to move case law on after over 40 years”.

Nigel Shepherd, former chair of Resolution, the family law group, was quoted as saying: “Whilst the Supreme Court has, reluctantly, applied the law correctly, the fact that they have done so confirms there is now a divorce crisis in England and Wales, and the government needs to take urgent action to address it.

“In this day and age, it is outrageous that Mrs Owens - or anybody - is forced to remain trapped in a marriage, despite every judge involved in the case acknowledging it has come to an end in all but name. Today’s judgment underlines just how vital it is that government now urgently reforms the divorce law.”