In what has been described as the biggest divorce law reform in 50 years, couples will not need to separate for at least two years – increasing to five if one party does not consent – or take on responsibilities to end legally. their wedding. Last Thursday was the last day for couples to divorce under the existing system and lawyers said, even before then, many were late in waiting for the new law. Jo Edwards, head of family law at Forsters, said: “My experience and the experience of many professionals I have spoken to is that we have just told people, certainly in the last three or four months and in some cases earlier than that, that this new law came – because we know for a few months that it will be on April 6 – generally the preference was to wait for the system without errors. “The experience of other countries where they have switched to an error-free system is that there is a sharp rise when the new law comes in – in Scotland, for example, when they changed the law in 2006.” Ed Floyd, a family law lawyer and associate at Farrer & Co, said: “There is a huge demand. We have been seeing clients for several months who, although they have agreed to divorce, cannot face the game of responsibility. The [no-fault divorce] “It’s something that has a lot of public cuts.” The latest divorce statistics, released on Thursday, show that the number of divorce applications in the last quarter of 2021 decreased by 26% compared to the same period in 2020. There are fears that an initial increase in cases combined with the new technology needed to enforce a divorce without fault will put additional pressure on the courts, which Floyd said “have never been more pressured by Covid and the cuts.” in the budget “. However, Edwards said that in the medium to long term the reform is likely to reduce the burden on the courts, as they would require less judicial supervision, as there would be no reason for the husband to challenge the divorce. Stowe Family Law also predicts an increase in the number of couples seeking divorce, although Amanda Phillips-Wylds, the company’s chief executive, said others were rushing to divorce under the existing error-based system. He suggested that couples were motivated by “cleansing”, but also because some “mistakenly believe that being able to prove that the other party was to blame for the marital breakdown would have a positive effect on their financial arrangements and arrangements for the children.” the behavior very rarely affects the financial results or the arrangements for the children “. The lawyers tried to point out that the new law will not affect the financial settlement process – which is separate – nor will it necessarily speed up the divorce. For the first time there will be a new minimum total of six months for the divorce. Edwards said she backed it in the first place to give time for reflection, but added: “I have some concerns about that because in a coercive control relationship there will be nothing to prevent a common applicant from partially withdrawing from the process. and then start over. “ The government said it would look into the financial settlement process, in which judges currently have wide discretion, and also called on bodies, including the Family Solutions team, to consider ways to completely remove couples who separate from the courts for to put prosperity. of children in the spotlight. “Now that divorce is coming through no fault of my own, I think the government is recognizing that this can not be the end of it,” Edwards said. “There must be other things to consider.”
