Divorces surge by almost 50% as ‘no fault’ law comes in, fuelling fears the rule change has made marriage splits easier
by James Tozer, Daily Mail:
Divorce applications soared by almost half just a week after the ‘no fault’ law came in, figures showed yesterday.
Around 3,000 couples have petitioned to end their marriages since the rules, which do not require couples to apportion blame, began in England and Wales last Wednesday.
Lawyers said that this was almost 50 per cent more than in a typical week.
Hannah Gumbrill-Ward, of the family team at law firm Winckworth Sherwood, said: ‘It does seem that some people were holding out for the introduction of no fault divorce.’
However the figure may have been artificially inflated by IT issues, insiders said.
The new divorce law – which ends the need for one party to blame the other – was opposed by some Conservative backbenchers who feared it would lead to ‘an immediate spike in divorce rates’.
But ministers and family lawyers say the changes will help divorcing couples to resolve their issues amicably, rather than exacerbating conflict and harming children’s upbringing.
After delays due to technical problems, the no-fault process was finally implemented last week.
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