With a number of top sports stars such as Wayne Rooney, Colin Montgomerie and Ashley Cole accused of cheating on their Wives their Wives may be thinking of divorce and of course some, most notably Cheryl Cole, have already taken this step.
So what are the grounds for divorce in England and Wales?
There is in fact only one actual ground for divorce, namely, irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. This has to be established by relying on one of five “facts”, these are:
- Adultery
- Unreasonable behaviour
- Desertion for a period of two years
- Separation for a period of two years where both parties agree to the divorce
- Separation for a period of five years, no consent required
It can be seen that except for the first two facts the others all require the parties to have been separated for a period of at least two years before proceedings can be commenced and many couples do not wish to wait this long .
In the case of adultery this can have occurred after the parties have separated and it is not necessary to name the third party. In the case of unreasonable behaviour this refers to behaviour which is such that the Petitioning party cannot reasonably be expected to live with the other party and can encompass common complaints such as the spouse being a workaholic, lack of communication, failure to assist with household chores. The Respondent spouse does not have to admit to such allegations as long as they accept that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. In other cases the couple may prefer not to “blame” the other and rely instead on a period of two years separation. In such cases it is advisable to deal with financial issues in a Deed of Separation which will later be formalised in a Court Order in the subsequent divorce proceedings.
For further advice on divorce contact the family team at Myers Lister Price Solicitors on
0161 926 9969.
