No Fault Divorce

From April 2022 English divorce law changed, meaning you no longer need to “prove” your divorce by reference to adultery, unreasonable behaviour etc. Now you simply state that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. You do not need to prove it and your spouse does not need to agree with it.

Although more straightforward, it is important that once that difficult decision to divorce has been taken that you then proceed with it rather than wait until you have sorted out all of the finances. At Fiona Bruce Solicitors, we find many people fall in to this trap. When a divorce is issued there is then a 20 week period before you can apply for the next stage and, crucially, it is only once that next stage is reached that you can ask a court to approve any financial agreement you have reached. If you delay starting the divorce you, therefore, delay that 20 week period giving your spouse the opportunity to change their mind on your settlement or for circumstances to change. Use the 20 weeks to negotiate that agreement and then make sure your lawyer puts it before a Judge as part of the divorce. Only then is it legally binding and, more importantly, only then are your future assets and inheritance protected from your ex-spouse making a claim to share them.

The contents of this post do not constitute legal advice and are provided for general information purposes only.