No-fault divorce
The Government is progressing a Bill to make divorce quicker and easier in England and Wales. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill will further liberalise our law, which already sees around 100,000 divorces a year.
The Department of Finance has launched a consultation on making divorce quicker and easier in Northern Ireland.
Finance Minister John O’Dowd told the Executive that he hoped new legislation would be in place by the end of the mandate in 2027. The consultation will be open until 26 September 2025.
It comes just two months after a senior family lawyer told The Law Society Gazette that liberalising divorce laws in England and Wales had intensified conflict between spouses and led to an increase in irrelevant claims to boost financial settlements.
‘Naïve’
In its consultation announcement, the Finance Department said: “Divorce and the dissolution of a civil partnership can be a stressful and sometimes acrimonious process both for the parties involved and for those close to them, particularly their dependent children.
“Moreover, stress, animosity and other such ill effects can be lasting.
“This is the principal reason the law of divorce and dissolution is under review — to identify possible changes that aim to make the experience of divorce and dissolution less challenging and potentially damaging for all concerned.”
‘Serious mistake’
But The Christian Institute’s James Kennedy said: “The reality is that divorce cannot be separated from pain, anger and emotional upheaval, and liberalising the law is likely to make things worse.
“The Department says most divorces in Northern Ireland already proceed on ‘no-fault’ grounds. But retaining ‘fault’ grounds is crucial for those who need legal recognition of serious wrongdoing, such as abuse or adultery. Removing this option will deny many the justice they deserve.
“Accelerating divorce would also be a serious mistake. It risks intensifying tensions and rushes couples into binding decisions while emotions are at their most raw. The current waiting period allows time for reflection and in some cases reconciliation; a significant minority ultimately choose to stay together. That opportunity should not be taken away.”
‘Therapeutic step’
Since 2022, under England and Wales’ Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act, couples can divorce in six months and a spouse cannot contest the decision — options now being considered by the Department for Finance.
But in his piece for The Law Society Gazette, James Grigg, Partner and Head of Family Law at HCR Law, explained that allowing couples to divorce without a reason in England and Wales has led to an increase in irrelevant financial claims, which often fuel, rather than quash, animosity.
Grigg explained: “Previously, being able to apportion blame at the start of the process by citing a spouse’s adultery or unreasonable behaviour was important to many people on a psychological level, serving as a therapeutic step in the healing process.
“The removal of fault in the divorce regime, as a legal concept, is straightforward. However, removing it from the human psyche is far more complicated.”
Fuelling animosity and increasing delays
Grigg also emphasised that changing the law has “led to more spouses littering financial statements with allegations of bad behaviour which, invariably, have no impact or relevance on the financial settlement.
“This is happening more than we saw under the old system and it often fuels animosity, resulting, ironically, in increased costs and delays.”
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