No Fault Divorce Second Hearing Postponed
24/02/2016
The second reading for plans to introduce no fault divorces has been postponed until 11th March.
The Bill, which was first tabled by MP, Richard Bacon in October last year, proposes that couples can go their separate ways without having to place the blame for the breakdown in the relationship on one side or the other.
Under the current law, divorces in England and Wales can only be granted on one of five grounds: adultery; unreasonable behaviour, desertion for two years or more, two years’ separation with consent or five years’ separation without the other party’s consent.
The result is that couples who agree their marriage is over have to decide whether they can wait two years before divorcing or whether one of them should file on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour in order to speed up the process.
Research carried out by Resolution, an organisation committed to resolving family disputes, in June 2015 showed that 52% of divorce petitions were fault-based, split between unreasonable behaviour and adultery. Of these, 27% admitted the allegation of fault was not true, but it was the easiest option.
Under Mr Bacon’s proposal couples would be able to split without having to apportion blame by providing separate signed declarations stating that the marriage or civil partnership had irretrievably broken down.
The Bill, however, isn’t without its opponents. Sir Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP for Gainsborough argues that a change in the law would make divorce “easier" and increase the number of divorces, but Mr Bacon has counteracted this, stating that divorce in itself is a "tragedy" which should not be "made easier", but his Bill would allow couples to break up without "throwing mud" at each other.