Following recent research carried out by industry experts revealing that current divorce laws in the UK are causing unnecessarily painful and destructive breakups, while making conflict worse between couples, a new divorce law review bill has been introduced in the House of Lords.
It received its first reading on July 18th, requiring the government to review existing laws on divorce and civil partnership dissolution and instead consider a proposal for a new system of no-fault divorce, Family Law Week reports.
Research carried out by professor Liz Trinder from the University of Exeter Law School found that the problems created by outdated laws have continued and have even become worse, stating that the law is unfair, unclear and expensive to operate.
Introducing the bill to the house of lords, former president of the family division Baroness Butler-Sloss said: “The present law on divorce is not fit for purpose. Research by the University of Exeter, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, has illuminated its deeply unsatisfactory state.
“Most judges do not apply the law as set out in the 1973 legislation; in order to get a quick divorce petitioners have to make allegations of unreasonable behaviour by the other spouse which can be very wounding for the respondent; but much more important these allegations are extremely upsetting for the children. This modest bill asks the Lord Chancellor to review the divorce law and the schedule to the bill sets out the suggestions for no-fault divorce.”
How to cope with divorce
No matter whether you have a no-fault divorce or have to cite unreasonable behaviour on the part of one person in the marriage in order to get a quick divorce, the process of splitting up and separating will always be incredibly painful for all involved.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by it all, which is certainly understandable and by no means uncommon, remember that you’re certainly not alone in feeling that your pain, fear, anger and sense of chaos are so great that you no longer feel as though you have the strength to overcome them.
But it can be helpful to remember that throughout your life you’ve probably already had to cope with a great deal – and survived it all. Try to use these past experiences to help you cope with what’s going on in your life right now, writing down what you thought and how you felt at the time. See if you can remember if there was something practical and helpful that you did that got you through it and if there’s something similar you could do now that would have similar results.
Getting in touch with Surrey divorce solicitors can also prove helpful as they’ll be able to work alongside you to ensure that the best decisions are made for you and your family in the event of a relationship breakdown. All the solicitors here at Gumersalls are members of Resolution and will try to bring matters to a conclusion as amicably as possible, following the family lawyer organisation’s guidelines.
