Key Facts

• The Bill seeks to make the legal process less painful, less traumatic for couples.
• The Government invested £39 million into the reducing parental conflict programme.
• A commitment has been made to consider how a review of the law governing financial remedies provision on divorce may take place.
• Reform of divorce law is supported by lawyers, judges, mediators, the Marriage Foundation, and academic research.
• The Bill aims to prevent quick divorces and ensure a minimum six-month term for divorce proceedings.
• Current law can incentivise conflict by requiring applicants to provide details of unreasonable behaviour in divorce petitions.
• The number of divorces has declined in recent years but the number of marriages has also decreased since 1972.
• Around two out of five divorces rely on a two-year separation fact if both parties consent.
• Three out of five petitioners for divorce rely on conduct facts such as unreasonable behaviour, adultery or desertion.
• The Bill seeks to regularise and equalise the position regarding minimum terms for divorce.
• It addresses the complexity of causes of divorce which often evolve over a long period of time.
• Under existing law, legal fact diverges significantly from the reality of why marriages break down.
• The Bill maintains a two-stage process but introduces a new minimum period of 20 weeks for divorces.
• A statement of irretrievable breakdown will be conclusive evidence that the marriage or civil partnership has broken down, removing the possibility of contesting the decision in most cases (only 2% of spouses currently do).
• Couples will now be able to make a joint application where the decision to divorce is mutual.
• Sir James Munby described current divorce laws as hypocritical and based on intellectual dishonesty.
• Couples are currently required to evidence unreasonable behaviour, adultery or desertion for a divorce application.
• Separation periods of two or five years may be necessary if neither party is willing to make an application.
• The minimum time for a joint application for divorce will be 26 weeks.
• Women’s Aid highlights that 77% of women killed by their partners are murdered in the year following separation due to current divorce laws.
• Legal representation in family cases has dropped from 58% before the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to 36%.
• The Bill is supported by Resolution, representing 6,500 family law practitioners.
• Every senior member of the judiciary with experience in the family field supports the Bill.
• Sir Paul Coleridge, chairman of the Marriage Foundation and former High Court judge, endorses the need for an intelligent process to end unsustainable marriages.
• 2,000 families annually face losing a parent.
• 3.5 million people choose to have children without getting married.
• Five families every day lose entitlements when a family member dies.
• The Bill aims to make divorce processes kinder by reducing conflict between separated couples.
• Divorce proceedings will take a minimum of six months.
• The Family Law Act 1996 identified funding for relationship support services as necessary for divorce reform.
• One in ten marriages was saved at the point of divorce through counselling offered under the 1996 Act.
• The Bill aims to make divorce easier by removing fault requirements.
• A consultation found that 80% of respondents were opposed to this measure.
• MP Edward Leigh cites Hillary Clinton's view on the permissiveness of divorce laws and their impact on children.
• The Bill proposes reducing the waiting period for no-fault divorce from two years to six months.
• Department for Work and Pensions estimates show that currently 12% of all children have parents in a distressed relationship, with up to 21% in workless families.
• Research identifies that parental conflict is more significant than separation itself in affecting child development.
• The Bill is seen as sending a message that divorce will be quicker and easier.
• There could be an immediate increase in divorces following the introduction of no-fault divorce.
• Some family lawyers are not enthusing about the Bill.
• The Bill aims to ease unnecessary conflict for couples and children.
• There will be a minimum of 20 weeks from the start of proceedings before someone can give confirmation to the court.
• Together with the existing six-week period, the legal process will take a minimum of six months.
• The speaker was six months old when their parents divorced.
• Some divorces take up to two years to complete legally.
• The Bill aims to reduce legal divorce proceedings to six months.
• The current law requires a minimum two-year separation before mutual agreement divorce can occur.
• 43% of those identified by their spouse as being at fault for the marriage breakdown disagree with the reasons cited in the divorce petition.
• Legal costs associated with divorce procedures can be costly, ranging into thousands of pounds.
• The Bill aims to remove unnecessary and artificial flashpoints in divorce proceedings.
• 43% of those identified as being at fault disagree with the reasons cited in the petition.
• Only 2% of cases are contested and fewer progress to a contested court hearing.
• Hon. Members are asked to leave the Chamber by specific doors.
• The instruction will likely be given 28 minutes after calling the Division.
• Ayes: 231, Noes: 16.