- Statistics now show that 1 in 3 marriages end in divorce, and it is probably even truer the more non-marriage relationship fall apart.
Grounds for Divorce
There is only one ground of divorce in the UK & Wales and that is "that the marriage has broken down irretrievably" To get a divorce you need to provide evidence to the courts and also be accepted on any of the below 5 facts:
- Adultery
- Unreasonable Behaviour
- Desertion - a period of no more then 2 years
- Have lived apart for at least 2 years (uncontested love)
- You have lived apart for at least 5 years (contested divorce)
Note that adultery and unreasonable behaviour are the only two grounds that you can get "instant" divorce in England & Wales.
Does it matter who initiated the divorce?
Yes!. Even though the outcome will be that you will be separated legally, it does matter who initiates the divorce process. The person who is being divorced is normally at a disadvantage. The reason being are:
- Speed of the divorce process is normally outside their control
- They will normally be ordered by the courts to pay the legal fees. This sounds unfair and adds fault and injury to the one being divorced, but the "tradition" behind this method was that one will be paid back the costs if they can prove their case.
Some couples do find a way to spilt the legal fee by coming to an agreement on the divorce costs. If both parties do come to an agreement then you are lucky to be in this situation, as this will mean that your ex-partner is willing to look at the matter in a more mature and fair view.
Regardless of who divorces who, the good news is that your access rights to your children (if any) should not be effected, unless a petition regarding your parenting skills have been raised against you.
Unmarried Couples
More and more couples are now living together and not getting married. Regardless of how long the couple where in the relationship for, the law will still treat them as two individuals who has no rights or liabilities to each other if the relationship ends. This can have some consequences especially when they own a property together and what happens to the property if one of the parties dies, most couple do not consider these points until after the relationship has ended. Because of the way the law is structured unmarried couples rights are not the same as a married couple. For example an unmarried couple will not have the basic rights to the partners wealth or to maintenance if they split. This basically means what is his is his, what is hers is hers and what is jointly held is divided.
If a house was brought jointly (either as a beneficial joint tenants or tenants in common) then it will be spilt accordingly in separation and either party will be able to force the sale of the property in order to release their share. If however the parties were contributing unequally either to the purchase price or the maintenance cost of the property then this will need to be reflected as tenants in common holding unequal shares (lets say 60% and 40%) rather then equal shares or beneficial joint tenants.
If the property is in the sole name of one party then it remains their property on separation unless it can be proven there was common intention that they would have a share of the property. They could have done this by:
Verbal conversation or in writing between the two parties sometime ago
- If the other party contributed to the purchase price.
- There has been a mutual understanding between the two parties and the non-owner has contributed to mortgage payments, household bills and even sold their property, then the courts may agree there should be a share in the property.
- and Finally both parties can come to an agreed settlement.
Getting a divorce or going through a separation is not a complex legal procedure but dealing with the emotional stress during and after can be an ordeal and challenging. Two people that loved each other few years back can now hate each other and be spiteful towards each other. That is why a family law solicitor is needed to help you through the process and sort out matters such as access to children, finances, property etc.
Citylocal Harrow business directory has a listing of legal firms and solicitors that can help you through the whole process.
