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It’s one of the five acceptable grounds for a divorce, but just what will a judge deem to be acceptable examples of a spouse’s unreasonable behaviour? As the judge that reviews the petition will be unwilling to grant a divorce if they are dissatisfied with the examples present within this document, it is hardly surprising that many people want to know exactly what types of behaviour a judge will deem to be unreasonable. Whilst there are no set examples of what is and what is not unreasonable, however, there is some good news: it’s entirely subjective and it’s not the reasons themselves that are necessarily the most important part of the application. Anything that you yourself found to be unreasonable behaviour can be utilised when filing for a divorce on these grounds. You should exercise some discretion of course (one minor incident several years ago is unlikely to be an acceptable example), but most things, from a lack of emotional support; failing to spend time with you or making little to no effort to communicate, are all acceptable examples. They must have taken place within the last six months (or have continued to remain ongoing throughout this period), however, and you must also state exactly how each example made you feel, also. It is this, latter, part of any example that is, in our opinion, the most important part of a petition relying on unreasonable behaviour. What is unreasonable is highly subjective, but our emotional responses are – whilst not entirely objective – much easier for another person to understand. It is for this reason that, provided you state how the behaviour made you feel and, crucially, that you informed your spouse of this yet their behaviour did not stop, that your reasons should satisfy the judge. Finally, it is advisable that you provide at least four examples of your spouse’s unreasonable behaviour as this also makes it significantly more likely that the judge that reviews your application will grant you a divorce.