The Fastest Divorce Law in the World?
from Family Education Trust:
The government’s proposals for divorce law reform have been described as ‘very fast and very unfair’ for recipients of a divorce petition by a leading family lawyer. David Hodson, a partner and co-founder of the International Family Law Group (IFLG) and a longtime supporter of no-fault divorce, has warned that the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill ‘puts all the cards into the hands of the petitioner’, leading to ‘probably the fastest divorce anywhere in the world’ as far as the other party to a marriage is concerned.
The Bill makes provision for divorce after a 26-week period from beginning to end, consisting of 20 weeks between filing papers and granting a decree nisi, followed by a further six weeks before the decree absolute is granted.
The purpose of the 20-week period prior to the granting of a decree nisi is to allow time for meaningful reflection and an opportunity to turn back, but for most of this period the other party may be blissfully unaware of the intentions of his or her spouse.
Blissful ignorance
In an article published by IFLG, David Hodson explains:
‘It is the petitioner who decides when to commence the proceedings. It is the petitioner who files the papers at the court, very probably online. Perhaps even hastily after a marital bust up because of the ease of online filing, and there is some evidence that this is already occurring.
‘At that point of filing at court, the 20 week starts to run. It is then the petitioner who decides when to serve the respondent, specifically whether at the outset or towards the end of the 20-week period.’
In other words, a husband or wife may be blissfully ignorant of the fact that his or her spouse has set the wheels in motion to bring the marriage to an end until little more than six weeks before the divorce is finalised. Mr Hodson spells out the consequences for the spouse who is being divorced without his or her knowledge:
‘The respondent may have just over six weeks’ notice from receipt, service, to the date of the final divorce decree. It will leave the recipient with almost no time to come to terms with the divorce or take protective financial steps. This inherent unfairness and haste could set the tone for what follows for the couple; an impact on co-parenting, terms of separation and accommodation and financial support.’
Unpleasantness
David Hodson notes the irony that in seeking to remove the ‘unpleasantness’ of allocating the blame of fault, the government is introducing another form of unpleasantness in enabling the petitioner to determine the timeframe in which his or her spouse will be told. He argues that greater attention must be paid to the impact of no-fault divorce on respondents and safeguards need to be put in place to protect their interests:
‘She or he may not know of the unhappiness of the other spouse. She or he may not know of the affair prompting the spouse to seek a divorce. She or he may have a genuine belief in the possibility of the marriage continuing with the benefit of marital counselling. She or he may want to delay the divorce for the sake of the children including a key stage in their education. She or he may lose out badly in the financial consequences if the final decree precedes the final financial order. These aspects are all stacked against a respondent in a no-fault system. Yet they cannot delay or stop the no-fault divorce. That is why there must be protections and safeguards.’
● David Hodson, The Fastest Divorce Law in the World? International Family Law Group, January 2020. http://www.iflg.uk.com/printpdf/1228
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