No-fault divorce proposals: Support in principle but anxieties in practice

David Hodson analyses the detail of the government proposals and finds areas of concern about how it will operate in practice.  He calls for these to be discussed now and before the parliamentary debate.

Introduction

There was jubilation at our offices on Tuesday morning 9 April 2019 at the news from the UK Ministry of Justice that legislation would be brought forward as soon as parliamentary time allowed to reform the law on divorce in England and Wales to bring in no-fault divorce. Lawyers at our firm as with family lawyers across the country had been supporting and encouraging this change over many years. Some of us were actively involved in the 1996 Family Law Act which introduced no-fault divorce but which frustratingly was not then subsequently implemented by the then Labour government.

Perhaps our jubilation was more keenly felt because with our significant international family law experience we deal with so many countries which have no fault systems of law and which in our experience seem to work perfectly well without the need for allegations and counter accusations about who was to blame. Simple...

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