What Is No-Fault Divorce?

Thanks to the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, which came into force on 6 April 2022, the divorce process in England & Wales has become considerably more humane.

No-Fault Divorce removes the focus on one party’s conduct as a factor which is relevant to the divorce. No-one has to prove anything – adultery, desertion or unreasonable behaviour. Nor do you have to wait 2 or 5 years to proceed.

Instead, a spouse (or both spouses acting together jointly if they agree) simply has to notify the court when the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

There is a minimum period of 20 weeks from the start of proceedings to the date when the court can make a ‘Conditional Order’ (which under the old regime was called ‘Decree Nisi’). Six weeks and one day after that, the court can conclude matters by making a ‘Final Order’ (which used to be called ‘Decree Absolute’).

By removing the focus on past conduct, and enabling couples to apply jointly for divorce, the process has become much kinder and more conciliatory, thus fostering better conditions for amicable discussions.

As an aside, there is no such thing as a ‘quickie divorce’. In principle at least, the position has always been that all uncontested divorces should take the same time to process.