Sharon Freeman - A Straightforward Guide To Divorce And The Law

Straightforward Guides

Straightforward Co Ltd 2022

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electronic or mechanical, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

ISBN 978-1-80236-064-6
ePUB ISBN: 978-1-80236-116-2
Kindle ISBN: 978-1-80236-109-4

Printed by 4edge www.4edge.co.uk

Cover design by BW Studios Derby

Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the information in this book is accurate, at the time of going to print, the publisher and author cannot accept any liability for errors or omissions within.

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In the main, those who have bothered to pick up this book, (Updated to 2022) will be people who want to know more about marriage and divorce, civil partnerships and dissolution or have experienced an initial separation from their partner and are now considering taking the first steps towards finalizing divorce/dissolution. The book will also concern those who wish to know more about Same-Sex marriages and civil unions. When this book was first produced, there was one kind of marriage, a conventional heterosexual marriage. Times have moved on and there are now same sex marriages and civil partnerships (also Opposite Sex CP). This book covers all forms of union.

It has been fifteen years since the advent of the Civil Partnerships Act and seven years since the Same Sex Marriages Act came into force so the question of divorce and dissolution of partnerships is now relevant as quite a few couples have decided to end their marriages/partnerships.

Marriage or civil partnerships can be wonderful institutions and are fine until things go wrong. Everything associated with separation and divorce or dissolution is usually traumatic and hurtful to those involved. A recent study, of 2,000 Britons who have either divorced or ended a long-term relationship, found that 54 per cent had had second thoughts about whether they had made the right decision. Simply realising that they missed or still loved their ex-partner was the main reason for the regret, while others felt lonely, believed that they were to blame or discovered that "the grass wasn't greener."

It also emerged that four in ten couples had tried to give the relationship another try after the break-up, with one in five such couples staying together. The Children and Families Act 2014 now makes it mandatory for divorcing couples to first attend mediation sessions to try to resolve their problems before divorcing, although their are exceptions such as people divorcing because of domestic violence.

Among the other reasons for regret sited by the respondents were feeling a failure, finding out that their ex-partner had met someone else, and realising they were happier in their relationship than being on their own.

Surprisingly, the lockdowns associated with the Pandemic in 2020 and 2021 did not accelerate the divorce rate amongst heterosexual couples, but increased among same sex couples.

This book does not attempt to deal with the more personal aspects of divorce and dissolution, such as the sense of failure and sense of loss. However, what it does do is offer a more practical insight into how the divorce/dissolution process works on a legal level and how you can prepare yourself adequately for these final steps towards ending your marriage/partnership.

As you begin the process of getting divorced, or a dissolution, you may feel that, rather than go rushing immediately to a solicitor, you want to gain a clearer picture of what lies ahead and a background knowledge of the procedures involved. You might even want to do a lot of the work yourself, in order to keep costs down and to exercise more control. Getting divorced, or experiencing a dissolution of a civil partnership will usually involve a lot more than simply obtaining a decree, which announces that your marriage/partnership is over. There will, in most cases, be questions surrounding children, property, money etc. From this book you will gain a practical insight into the law surrounding the divorce/dissolution process and also how these other matters are resolved. A word of caution: it should be remembered that in certain situations it will not be advisable to do it alone without the use of a solicitor. Such cases will be where children and assets are involved and negotiation is needed, or where there are other conflicts.

This Act, which becomes law on April 6th 2022, makes important changes to the legal process for married couples to obtain a divorce, for civil partners to dissolve their civil partnership, or for obtaining a judicial separation. It introduces the concept of no fault divorce. The Act:

replaces the requirement to provide evidence of conduct or separation facts with a new requirement to provide a statement of irretrievable breakdown;

removes the possibility of contesting the decision to divorce, as the statement of irretrievable breakdown would be taken as conclusive evidence that the marriage has broken down irretrievably;

introduces a new option of a joint application;

introduces a minimum overall timeframe of six months into the divorce process;

enables the Lord Chancellor, by order, to adjust the time periods;

updates terminology.

The Act will make the process of separation and divorce/dissolution that much easier. will outline the Act and new procedures. Although at the time of writing the current procedure for divorce entails proving one of five facts and requires a separation period of two years, it is anticipated that most people will wait until after April 6th to commence proceedings.

This book covers England, Wales and Scotland. For more information on Divorce in Northern Ireland go to: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/getting-divorce-or-dissolving-Civil-partnership

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The main law governing marriage in England, The Marriage Act 1949, as amended, and The Marriage Act 1983, as amended by the Marriage Act 1994, (which extended the type of premises people can be married in) states that marriage is the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, although this has now been modified with the introduction of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 which we discuss at the end of this chapter. We will also discuss Civil Partnerships and dissolution. We begin by discussing conventional heterosexual marriage.

Much has changed in family life over the years and today, marriages break up with alarming frequency and more and more people choose to live together as opposed to marrying.

This section is about the institution of conventional marriage and how it works within the law. We will look at who can get married, the engagement, marriage formalities, effects of marriage, cohabitation and agreements. Reference will be made to the 2013 Act towards the end of the chapter although the main body of the law that applies to conventional marriage also applies to same sex marriages.

The law states that, in order to marry, a person must:

a) be unmarried

b) be over the age of 18

c) a person can marry over the age of 16 with parental consent