The Law Society has disclosed that applications for divorce almost doubled in April under the new divorce procedure. 'No fault divorce' came into force in April 2022 meaning couples no longer have to provide evidence of unreasonable behaviour or adultery to begin a divorce. Parties simply need to state that the marriage has 'broken down irretrievably'.
Over 2,000 of the divorce applications in April 2022 were joint. For the first time, a couple can apply to the court together for a divorce. Having filed one of the first joint divorce applications on behalf of a client, it was a revelation! Both parties have come to the decision to end the marriage together and neither is 'at fault' on the court record. It has so far set the tone for sensible, cooperative discussions to settle the financial claims as well. Here's hoping this will be the new normal.
Newly published statistics for April 2021 to April 2022, show more than 12,000 new divorce applications were filed as ‘no-fault’ divorce came into effect. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 means divorcing couples are no longer required to assign blame for the breakdown of their marriage. There were 12,978 new divorce applications in April 2022. 10,207 of which were sole applications and 2,771 were joint applications.* By comparison, there were 6,764 digital divorce applications in April 2021. Law Society vice president Lubna Shuja said: “These figures reflect the ‘bulge’ we expected as the new law came into effect.
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