No fault divorce bill to receive royal assent
Yesterday evening (17th June), the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill completed its passage through Parliament, and Royal Assent is imminent. The new law means that divorce will be possible after a 6 month period by notification without the need for either a husband or wife to find fault. The requirement to find fault unless a couple have been separated for a prolonged period has caused much unnecessary hostility and impaired the ability of couples to move on from their separation, impacting on their children too. Implementation is expected by Autumn 2021 with the first divorces to go through in 2022 after the new 6 month notification period.
Graeme Fraser, Head of Family at OGR Stock Denton and member of Resolution’s Family Law Reform Group commented as follows:
This is great news for all those who adopt Resolution’s principled approach towards reducing confrontation and a real tipping point for reducing conflict in family law generally. In recent years, Resolution’s campaign for no fault divorce created an irreversible momentum for change. I am delighted that our clients will be able to soon benefit from this important improvement to divorce law.
The new law will mean that couples can take better advantage of non-court options including collaborative law, mediation and arbitration which promote fairer outcomes with a reduced level of conflict. For further details about these options, all of which are fully serviced by the Family Law team at OGR Stock Denton, please contact Graeme Fraser.
