No-fault divorce: Law set to be overhauled to avoid 'unnecessary antagonism'

Calls for the antiquated system to be reformed have increased after the supreme court court ruled 68-year-old Tini Owens could not divorce her husband

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Divorce laws in England and Wales are set for an overhaul that could allow couples to split faster and with less acrimony.

Justice Secretary David Gauke is to begin a consultation on introducing “no-fault” divorces after campaigners claimed the current rules were cumbersome and create confrontation.

Family lawyers say the change would be a “landmark moment” for divorce law and it would make a legal system “fit for the modern age”.

Under the current law, anyone seeking a divorce must either prove their partner is at fault or, if their spouse agrees, must be separated for a two-year period.

Only adultery, desertion or unreasonable behaviour are considered “faults”.

In cases where consent is not given, applicants who have no evidence of fault must be separated for five years.

Mr Gauke has previously said the current system created “unnecessary antagonism” and there was a “strong” case for reform.

The consultation came after a woman’s appeal for divorce was rejected by the Supreme Court due to her husband’s refusal to split.​

Tini Owens had told the Supreme Court that her 40-year marriage to Hugh Owens was “loveless” and “broken down”.

She said he had behaved unreasonably and said she should not reasonably be expected to stay married.

But Mr Owens had refused to agree to a divorce, justices heard, and denied Mrs Owens’s allegations about his behaviour.

The Supreme Court ruled against her in July, but Lord Wilson said justices had come to the ruling “with reluctance”.

He said the “question for Parliament” was whether the law governing “entitlement to divorce” remained “satisfactory”.

Nigel Shepherd, chairman of the national family lawyer’s organisation Resolution, said that couples had been forced “into needless acrimony and conflict” under the current system, “to satisfy an outdated legal requirement”.

“Today’s news has the potential to be a landmark moment for divorce law in England and Wales,” he said.

“The government appears to have heeded our calls to make our divorce system fit for the modern age, and we will continue to push for this much-needed, overdue reform to be implemented as soon as possible.”

Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon said: “Labour is fully committed to introducing no-fault divorce proceedings.

“Instead of yet another consultation, the Conservatives should get on with changing our divorce laws so that they are fit for the 21st century.

Press Association contributed to this report