No-fault divorce

September 14, 2021

No-fault divorce to come into force in 2022

On 25 June 2020, the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill received Royal Assent and became the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (the “Act”). The Act will come into force on 6 April 2022.

The new law will allow you to apply for a divorce or dissolution of your civil partnership jointly rather than an application by just one party, which is the current position. The process will involve applying for a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership by making a statement of irretrievable breakdown without the need to blame the other party and the other party will not be able to contest the divorce or dissolution.

After 20 weeks from the start of proceedings, you can apply for a conditional divorce order (replacing the current Decree Nisi) and a divorce order (replacing the current Decree Absolute) can then be applied for six weeks after this and the divorce will then be finalised.

In the case of a civil partnership, a conditional order can be applied for after 20 weeks from the start of proceedings and then a dissolution order can be applied for six weeks after this. This will then finalise the dissolution.

There will also be a minimum time frame of six months between when the application is sent to the court to the divorce or dissolution of the civil partnership being finalised.

Wallace Robinson & Morgan Limited are based in Solihull and Dorridge and serve clients across Birmingham and the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and further afield. Our team of Family Lawyers are happy to help if you would like advice about divorce or dissolving a civil partnership and dividing your finances following separation.

If you would like to discuss your matter, please call 0121 705 7571 and ask to speak to a member of the Family law team or email us at family@wallacerobinson.co.uk.

This article is for general information purposes only. It does not constitute technical, financial, legal advice or any other type of professional advice and is no substitute for specific advice based on your individual circumstances. We do not accept responsibility or liability for any actions taken based on the information in this article. For more information, please click here.