SURPRISING SURGE IN DIVORCE APPLICATIONS WHILE DRACONIAN LAWS STILL IN PLACE

Couples have until this Thursday, 31 March, to file for divorce under the current law, after which applications will be closed until no-fault divorce comes into effect on 6 April.

Stowe Family Law – the UK’s largest family law firm – has seen a surge of individuals enquiring about filing for divorce while the UK’s archaic divorce laws are still in place. Currently, upon filing for divorce, one must cite the grounds on which to apply – these are adultery, unreasonable behaviour, living apart for two years (with agreement), living apart for five years (without agreement) and desertion. When going through the divorce process, this means that blame must be attributed to the other party in order for an application to be granted.

On 6 April, this will all change. The UK’s draconian divorce law system will be overturned by one that puts an end to the so-called ‘blame game’. Couples will no longer have to provide a reason for getting divorced. Instead, applications will be automatically granted.

The surge in enquiries of people wanting to divorce under the current measures, rather than waiting for no-fault divorce to come into effect, demonstrates how deeply the blame game is embedded in the UK’s culture. In many instances, apportioning blame is part of a person’s catharsis when filing.

Amanda Phillips-Wylds, Managing Partner at Stowe Family Law, says: “The number of individuals scrambling to enquire about divorce while still in time to cite the fault-based grounds of divorce has been surprising.

This perhaps points towards a lack of understanding as to what no-fault divorce means. A recent survey we conducted at Stowe revealed that 43% of Brits erroneously believed that being able to prove the other party was at fault for the marital breakdown would favourably impact their financial settlement and custody over any children.

We are therefore finding that people are enquiring about divorcing while they can still apportion blame to their spouse with the assumption that they will get more out of the divorce.

But the reality is that blame in a divorce achieves very little. In actual fact, taking away the blame is what will help people focus on the important issues and has no impact on the financial or child settlements.

As lawyers, encourage the nation to embrace these new laws. Not only will they be beneficial from a practical standpoint, making the divorce process swifter and easier, but also from a mental health perspective, as the new laws are designed to help reduce the emotionally traumatic process of going through a divorce.”