Law firm back plans to overhaul divorce law

Local firm, Burnett Barker Solicitors, have backed plans by the government to overhaul the current divorce laws in favour of a ‘no-fault’ divorce option.

Under current legislation, divorcing couples must either blame one party for the divorce citing either adultery or unreasonable behaviour, or they must wait until they have been legally separated for a minimum of two years.

The government has announced plans to launch a public consultation on whether no-fault divorces should be introduced. If plans are confirmed, it would be the first time in almost 50 years that the divorce laws will have been modernised.

Speaking about the news, family lawyer Joanne Matthews from Burnett Barker Solicitors said: “We fully support these proposals – for too long, the divorce laws in England and Wales have caused needless conflict amongst families. These conflicts not only make a difficult situation much harder than it needs to be, but they can cause lasting damage to family relationships, undermining efforts to resolve issues outside of the court system.”

She continued: “It was only a month ago that we heard about the case of Tini Owens, where the Supreme Court rejected her appeal to divorce her husband until a period of five years had elapsed. It shouldn’t be the case that couples are forced to remain married because one party refuses to agree. We look forward to hearing more details of the proposed plans and hope that these reforms are implemented as soon as possible.”

Joanne Matthews is a family law specialist who can work with clients to resolve issues relating to children, finances or property.

For more information visit the Burnett Baker website, phone 01284 701131 or  pop into their offices at 20 Whiting Street, Bury St Edmunds.

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