Three years after the previous government declared that the introduction of no-fault divorce would end the ‘blame game’, family lawyers have declared that removing fault from the law has proved easier than banishing it from the psyches of separating couples.
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act came into force on 6 April 2022, removing the need for couples to assign blame for the breakdown of their marriage. James Grigg, head of family law at HCR Law, said the legislation has been widely welcomed but also had unintended consequences.
Grigg said: ‘Previously, being able to apportion blame at the start of the process by citing a spouse’s adultery or unreasonable behaviour was important to many people on a psychological level, serving as a therapeutic step in the healing process. The removal of fault in the divorce regime, as a legal concept, is straightforward. However, removing it from the human psyche is far more complicated.
‘In my experience, the new divorce regime has led to more spouses littering financial statements with allegations of bad behaviour which, invariably, have no impact or relevance on the financial settlement. This is happening more than we saw under the old system and it often fuels animosity, resulting, ironically, in increased costs and delays.
Clizia Motterle, a senior associate in the family team at RWK Goodman, said the no-fault regime has significantly reduced conflict. ‘The distress, anger, and frustration that so often surround the breakdown of a marriage, however, have not disappeared and it is important that we continue to acknowledge that,’ Motterle said.
‘They are emotions which separating individuals will need to process, and which they can no longer channel into lengthy particulars of unreasonable behaviours or statements dealing with conduct, the scope of which remains very limited in matrimonial proceedings.’
The no-fault regime allows couples to jointly apply for divorce, stating that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. However, Ministry of Justice data shows only a quarter of divorce applications being made jointly by couples.
