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When breaking up is hard to do: the case for divorce law reform
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Kerry Fretwell Partner
Penningtons Manches
George Bernard Shaw is reputed to have said ‘Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can’t sleep with the window open and a woman who can’t sleep with the window shut’. For some spouses such issues are part and parcel of a normal marriage but for those who have been married a long time there can be any number of reasons why a husband or wife may decide that they no longer wish to be together.
There are about 110 000 divorces in this country every year with about 600 people getting divorced every day. Each divorce is based on an irretrievable marriage breakdown but this has to be proved by one of five different facts. Three of those facts are time-related including being separated for 2 years for a divorce by consent or being separated for 5 years with no consent required. However if a couple want to start divorce proceedings within the 2-year period then they must use what is called a ‘fault-based ground’ which...
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