Understanding the grounds for divorce in England and Wales

Mindsets are changing. The initial concept that someone had to be held responsible for the breakdown of a marriage is starting to fade. People are slowly understanding that sometimes things just don’t work out. As this cultural shift progresses, judicial systems are catching up with the belief that assigning responsibilities in the context of a family breakup isn’t helpful. It fosters an atmosphere of finger-pointing and division. This mentality leads to war-mongering and high conflict divorce.

It was therefore a major victory when England and Wales passed the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act in June 2020 (taking effect in April 2022), removing the concept of grounds for divorce, and allowing couples to proceed simply based on the marriage having irretrievably broken down. This has also meant that couples are no longer divorcing each other but are divorcing on the basis of a common agreement that they do not want to stay in the relationship. In the pre-2022 world, couples had to choose between 5 grounds for divorce to prove in order to proceed:

• Adultery
• Unreasonable behaviour, which may include violence, excessive drinking, neglect, etc.
• Desertion by the other party
• Separation for more than 2 years, with the consent of the other party
• Separation for more than 5 years, without the consent of the other party

The commonly referred to “No-Fault Divorce” law of April 2022 has now removed the need for specifying any grounds for divorce. Interestingly, it also now allows one of the spouses to file for and obtain a divorce without agreement from the other person. By removing the requirement to blame something or someone for the end of the marriage, the judicial system has given couples an opportunity to separate in a less conflictual way. This allows couples to divorce amicably, saving them time, money and emotional turmoil.