This week the government’s consultation on introducing no-fault divorce closed. Many will be relieved to see the legislative wheels in motion, with the hope of heading towards a change that was recommended by the Law Commission in 1990.
This year in particular has served to highlight the need for a less antagonistic divorce process. Many watched on with degrees of horror and sympathy as a judge ruled this summer that Tini Owens must remain married to her husband, Hugh, until 2020 after he refused to agree to a divorce, and it could not be proved the marriage had broken down as a result of adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion.
According to the family law organisation Resolution, about 60 per cent of divorces in England and