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It was revealed last week that as many as 179 Italian couples have fraudulently obtained a divorce from courts located in England or Wales, with this having been noticed following court staff having observed that each of the relevant petitions filed at court contained the same address in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Whilst it has also been reported that these divorces are likely to be rescinded in the coming weeks, that a representative from the Italian government has arrived in the UK to assist Thames Valley Police and that all of the Respondent’s addresses were located in Italy, little has been said about why these individuals risked prosecution in order to end their marriages in the UK when they, considering that only one of the applications was contested by the Respondent, could have obtained a divorce in the country within which they were indeed resident. The reason, ultimately, is the length of time that a person residing in Italy must have been separated from their spouse before they will be eligible for a divorce. Whilst an individual that is entitled to utilise the courts in either England or Wales is able to file for a divorce immediately after they have separated from their spouse (albeit on the fault based ground of adultery or unreasonable behaviour), a person must wait at least three years before filing in Italy. What this means is that, irrespective of how much consideration a person has given to their decision to divorce and regardless of whether or not it is indeed the best course of action for them, their spouse and family, they will be required to wait for this period to elapse before they are even able to begin the process of bringing their marriage to a legal end. Some of you reading this may feel that such individuals should simply remain patient, but in Quickie Divorce’s experience, many people feel the need to obtain their divorces as soon as possible. Speak to these people for just a few moment, and it soon becomes clear why. To many, being married to an individual whom you no longer love serves as emotional ballast; preventing them from moving on and having a significant and adverse on not only their romantic lives, but their general wellbeing. It is therefore understandable that such people will look to utilise loopholes, or even act unlawfully, in order to hasten the legal end of their marriage. This is not to suggest that the actions of those that deceived the courts can be condoned, however. It may be easy to empathise with them – possibly even sympathise – but there can be little doubt that their actions have undermined the authority of courts both in the UK and Italy. Nevertheless, one thing can be gleaned from this event: a mandatory separation period of three years, whilst endorsed to promote reconciliation and prevent matrimonial and familial breakdown – all undoubtedly noble intentions – will bring about frustration that will, inevitably, push some of those effected to bend rules to their advantage. Is three years too long to wait before a person is able to file for a divorce? Share your opinion by leaving a comment.