Government publishes much-anticipated consultation on no-fault divorce

On Saturday, the Ministry of Justice published a much-anticipated consultation paper on measures designed to reduce family conflict during the divorce process.

The paper's stated aim is to reform the legal requirements for divorce so that they are consistent with the approach taken in other areas of family law, and to shift the focus from blame and recrimination to support adults better to focus on making arrangements for their own futures and for their children’s.

Justice Secretary David Gauke said:

"Marriage will always be one of our most important institutions, but when a relationship ends it cannot be right for the law to create or increase conflict between divorcing couples. That is why we will remove the archaic requirements to allege fault or show evidence of separation, making the process less acrimonious and helping families look to the future".

An overview of the consultation proposals is set out here.

The consultation closes on 10 December 2018.