Blameless divorce?

Next month the Supreme Court is due to hear the case of a wife currently stuck in a loveless marriage but who has been denied a divorce. Mr and Mrs Owen were married in 1978 and had two children together. Their marriage broke down and they separated in 2015. Mrs Owens petitioned for divorce on the only basis available to her at the time, namely that her husband had behaved in such a way that she could not reasonably be expected to live with him. However her husband contested the divorce and the court ruled that, although it was clear the marriage had broken down, the allegations in Mrs Owens’ divorce petition were not strong enough to establish that her husband had behaved unreasonably towards her. Consequently her application for a divorce was denied. This decision was upheld by the judges at the Court of Appeal, who while they sympathised with Mrs Owens’ position, were unable to help her within the law as it currently stands. If Mrs Owens’ appeal to the Supreme Court next month also fails and her husband continues to object to the divorce, she will be unable to apply to end her marriage until 2020, five years after she and Mr Owens separated. 

This case is unusual as most divorce cases are uncontested but it does highlight the difficulties with the current divorce law. In order to obtain a divorce without waiting for a period of two years from the date of separation with the other persons consent or a period of five years from the date of separation without it, the person applying for a divorce must do so on the basis that their spouse has behaved badly towards them to has committed adultery. This often only serves to increase the conflict between the parties at an already difficult time. 

There is mounting pressure on the government to change the law on divorce and a You Gov poll conducted in February of this year shows 70% of people support no fault divorce. Unfortunately in the same month the Justice Minster confirmed there is no current plan for reform. The association of family lawyers, Resolution, is intervening in Mrs Owen’s case before the Supreme Court next month to support her application. 

Our team of family lawyers are all members of Resolution and fully support the intervention and the calls for no fault divorce. In the mean time we continue to help our clients working with the current system to ensure they are able to end their marriage without undue delay, expense and acrimony. 

We offer a free initial telephone consultation for all new enquiries. Contact Rachel Baker on 01384 340 580 (rbaker@georgegreen.co.uk) in our Cradley Heath office or Alex Mansfield on 01902 328 635.