Ending The Divorce Blame Game Might Not Suit Everyone

• Published date: 04 April 2022
• Subject Matter: Family and Matrimonial, Family Law, Divorce
• Law Firm: LCF Law
• Author: Ms Rachel Spencer Robb

Next month divorcing couples no longer have to assign blame, and whilst the biggest shake up of divorce laws for 50 years have been largely welcomed, some people find it therapeutic to state their own reason for how a marriage ended, according to one of the North of England's leading family lawyers.

As a result, anyone who specifically seeks to stipulate one of the five current reasons for their divorce, needs to act fast, according to Rachel Spencer Robb, who is a partner and head of LCF Law's Family Law team.

The three most common legal reasons clients can currently give are allegations of the other's unreasonable behaviour, allegations of adultery, or the fact that they have been already separated from their spouse for two years, provided their spouse agrees.

However, from 6 April 2022, married couples will be able to divorce without assigning blame and on the grounds of "irreconcilable differences", as part of changes to the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020.

Rachel explained: "From April new legislation will remove the need for evidence of one party being to blame for the failure of the marriage. These changes should reduce the acrimony and conflict that often arises during a divorce, and particularly when the fault-based grounds of behaviour and...