Divorce deadline - no-fault divorce coming soon

Divorce law is changing and from the 6 April 2022, it will be possible for all divorcing couples to obtain a no fault divorce. 

It will in fact no longer be necessary to prove or allege adultery nor unreasonable behaviour and nor will they have to wait 2 years and require their spouses consent nor wait 5 years as is currently the case for some.

As to the practical aspects of the change over, concerns were raised last week about the potential of a significant gap between the cessation of the current divorce process and the availability of a new system. This was due to a warning being noted on the divorce portal used by solicitors that the service would shortly cease.

This led to some commentators suggesting that the portal could close as early as mid March. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) has now confirmed that the deadline for issuing proceedings under the current laws will be the 31 March 2022 with applications under the new rules being possible from the 6 April 2022.

The purpose of this deadline is to ensure that the court is able to issue all applications made prior to the 6 April. In real terms this will mean a gap of 3 working days over which it will not be possible to issue a divorce petition in the usual way. For the majority of people that is not going to cause a problem. 

If, however, there are potential jurisdictional issues or other reasons that a divorce must be issued within that window, then it is understood that this will be possible but will require the application being emailed to the court via a specific email address.

For more information about divorce and separation, I can be contacted on 01206 217305 or via [email protected] or alternatively, complete our online enquiry form and a member of our team will call you.