Divorce Applications Soar By 50% Since The Introduction Of No Fault Laws

It has recently been reported that since the no fault laws were introduced at the start of April, divorce applications have surged by as much as 50%, according to new figures.

Data from the HM Courts & Tribunals services shows around 3,000 divorce requests were made in the last couple of weeks, which roughly amounts to an average of 600 applications per day. This is significantly higher than the average of just over 2,000 weekly applications seen in 2021.

The long-delayed Divorce, Dissolution, and Separation Act 2020 came into practice on Wednesday 6 April, after it was first promised in April 2018. This Act introduces no fault divorces in England and Wales. For further information on the no fault divorce laws, see our previous blog.

Why have divorce applications increased so much following the rollout of the no fault divorce laws?

The increase in applications probably doesn’t come as much as a surprise to those working in this legal area. Prior to the laws being introduced, it was widely expected that those wanting to divorce would wait for the arrival of the new laws, which would subsequently lead to a surge in applications. The significant rise in applications supports the case of the law reform too, in that people wanted to be able to divorce without hostility.

It means those who felt trapped in unhappy or unwanted marriages – that don’t necessarily involve affairs or bad behaviours have now been given a humane exit route without all the distress and delay that comes with the old system.

Couples will no longer be forced to prove they have been separated for two years, which was previously the only other option to file for divorce without assigning blame.

From these statistics, it is clear some couples who perhaps were contemplating a divorce held back the actual issuing of the Court application and chose to wait until the new system came into force.

Comment

Here at Nelsons, we have had clients return since their initial meeting to commence divorce proceedings after the no fault divorce laws came into practice. This was an important aspect for some of our clients as they wanted to resolve all other matters which come with a divorce in a conciliatory manner, such as children and financial matters.

It will be interesting to see how these figures pan out across the whole quarter and whether the statistics carry on increasing or slow down, or even level out. The question remains whether the annual figures for 2022 will see an increase because people wanted to avoid the blame game and start the divorce process off on a more amicable footing.