Grounds for divorce
You have to be married or in a civil partnership for 12 months before you can file a divorce petition.
- Adultery (You can only use this if you are ending a marriage, not a Civil Partnership)
- Unreasonable behaviour
- Desertion for a period of at least two years
- Two years separation with consent
- Five years separation – no consent needed
These all need a bit of explanation, so this is how they work, from the point of view of the person asking for the divorce.
Adultery
This means that your husband or wife has had full sexual intercourse with a person of the opposite sex. If you go on living together for more than six months after you have found out about it you may not be able to use this reason because you also have to show the court that you find it ‘intolerable’ to go on living together. You no longer have to name the 'other man/woman'.
Unreasonable behaviour
This can cover all sorts of behaviour, provided you find it impossible to live with your partner any longer. It can include persistent violence, insults, coldness, disgusting personal hygiene, inadequate sex – and more besides. Civil Partners can use this if their partner has been unfaithful. Most divorce petitions based on this reason will have about four to six short paragraphs describing different aspects of the unreasonable behaviour.
Desertion
This means that your partner has left you against your will, and you have been living apart for at least two years. As you can get a divorce if you have been living apart for two years and you both agree, this reason is not used very often.
Two years separation, with consent
Even if you both agree to divorce, one person still has to to divorce the other; you can’t ask the court for a divorce together. During the period of separation, you can have had up to six months trying to live together again. This doesn’t count towards the two years, however.
What I learned...
“It didn’t feel like our marriage when I saw it all out in black and white. It was like two strangers. Somehow all the feelings had gone out of it.”
Five years separation
If you can’t get your partner to agree to a divorce and you don’t fit into the other reasons you may have to wait until you have been apart for five years and then use this ‘fact’. Your partner may still be able to block it by trying to prove to the court that the divorce would cause gross financial or other hardship, but this rarely happens.
