The Queen's Speech: Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill

Last month we posted an article by family law solicitor, Simon Brown, regarding divorce rates and how talking and teamwork may help tackle Christmas break-ups. In the Queen’s Speech on 19th December 2019 a new Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill was announced.

“Intended to reform divorce law, it is a welcome development” says Simon Brown, “and it will help to remove some of the rancour from the divorce process.”

The objectives of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill include:

• Retaining the sole ground of irretrievable breakdown, but replacing the requirement to make an allegation about the other spouse’s conduct. Or to be able to demonstrate a period of separation with the requirement to state to the court that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.
• Introducing a new minimum period of 20 weeks between the start of proceedings and applying for the conditional order (the six week period between conditional and final order, currently called decree nisi and decree absolute, will remain).
• Introducing a new option for a joint application in cases where the decision to divorce is mutual.

We now wait to see the detail in the draft legislation where we will post an in-depth follow up.

To discuss any family legal matter or issue, you can contact Simon Brown or the Family Team on 01892 526344.

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.