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No-fault divorce is the de facto ground for divorce in numerous countries throughout the world. With the majority of separations in the UK now being attributed to the fact that couples are simply falling out of love, you’d expect it to be available here, too. Sadly, this isn’t the case – technically at least.

No-fault divorce is available (sort of)

Whilst it’s not possible to obtain a divorce by simply saying that your marriage has broken down due to irreconcilable differences (the technical definition of no-fault divorce) it is possible to cite reasons that don’t effectively blame either spouse for the separation.

There is, however, a catch: the couple must have been living separately for at least two years and will also need to agree to the divorce. It’s possible to get a blame-free divorce when both parties don’t agree but, when this is the case, the parties need to have been living separately for more than 5 years. That, and the spouse seeking the divorce is probably going to need to spend that little bit more on a bailiff or process server to ensure that their former husband/wife receives the relevant documents.

 What if you agree but haven’t been living separately for two years?

Under these circumstances, you can cite the ground of unreasonable behaviour or adultery. As their names suggest, you’ll need to rely on the fact that your spouse has had an extra-marital affair or has behaved in such a way that you can no longer remain married to them. With spouses rarely willing to take the blame through fear of financial reprisals, however, many couples simply wait until the two-year period has passed, remaining in failed marriages until they meet these requirements.

Is this likely to change?

Hopefully, yes. Pretty much everyone that works within family law – from lawyers to judges to mediators and online divorce providers – are pushing for no-fault divorce to become the norm. All parties seem to universally agree that apportioning blame is counterproductive, prevents people from moving on and, above all else, that fault-based divorce is simply not in keeping with the positive changes that have been made with regards to family law in the UK over the past two decades.

Just last week high-profile judge Sir James Munby, who currently serves as the President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales, made an impassioned plea for the introduction of legislation that would make no-fault divorce a reality. The support of such a high-profile figure will, of course, benefit this cause but changes to the law ultimately rest with the government and not the courts. That said, the push seems to be gaining more momentum and Quickie Divorce are hopeful that divorce law in the UK will soon change and that the long-awaited introduction of no-fault divorce is imminent.