Expediting a divorce under ‘no fault’ law

Earlier this year, the Law Gazette published an article explaining how law firm Michelmores had successfully applied to reduce the mandatory 20 week ‘cooling off period’ between the issue of a divorce and the grant of Conditional Order.

This spurred me into action to write about my own experience of shortening this period. In the case discussed in the Gazette, the reason for needing a faster divorce was because one of the parties had a life-limiting health issue, and a long delay to their divorce may have ‘detrimentally affected’ the client.

In my case experience, the parties had been separated for 4 years after a short marriage. The divorce was initially issued under the old law but was re-issued under the new ‘no fault’ law in the hope to speed things up, but then the parties were faced with the 20 week wait. They had agreed a financial settlement and both had moved on with their lives – being in new relationships and the wife had recently given birth to a child with her new partner. There was no chance of a reconciliation.

The application to reduce the 20-week period was granted in February this year, allowing the Conditional Order to be made on the next available date. This was significant for these parties, who then could finalise their financial order and achieve a clean break without additional delay.

The 20-week period was introduced under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (“the 2020 Act”), which changed the previous divorce law to allow divorces to proceed without reliance on one of 5 facts – those included behaviour, adultery, desertion and 2 or 5 years’ separation. When this change was debated, one concern was that divorces would be granted too easily – without evidence of ‘fault’, people might rush into divorces and regret it later. Parliament therefore decided that introducing a mandatory period of 20 weeks between the start of the divorce and the first divorce order would enable people to reflect on their decision.

There is provision in the law (otherwise Michelmores’ and our applications would not have been possible) under section 1(8) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (as amended by the 2020 Act) which allows the court to shorten the 20-week period. The section does not set out any particular guidance or rules for when this is appropriate, so it is up to the discretion of the Court. We know that a terminal illness or a long period of separation and agreement on finances has passed this test. Undoubtedly, there will be more cases with different circumstances that will also have the period shortened.

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This article is intended for the use of our clients and other interested parties. The information contained in it reflects the author’s view and is believed to be correct at the date of publication. However, it is necessarily of a brief and general nature and should not be relied upon as a substitute for specific professional legal advice.