Ecclesiastical Courts
While early Christian doctrine on divorce had been more liberal, by the 1500s the Catholic Church no longer permitted divorce. Couples could only obtain an annulment or separation from the Ecclesiastical Courts, where a high standard of proof was required.
Famously, the Catholic Church refused to allow King Henry VIII to end his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. This led King Henry VIII to found the Church of England in 1534. However, unlike in other areas of Europe, the Church of England did not lift the existing restrictions on divorce following the Reformation. King Henry VIII simply had his own marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled.
Divorce by Acts of Parliament
The first divorce in England was granted to Lord Roos by an Act of Parliament in 1667. Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, parliamentary divorces became increasingly regular. However, this method of divorce required the right connections, access to London and cost thousands of pounds, so was inaccessible to the vast majority.
Matrimonial Causes Act 1857
In 1857 the Matrimonial Causes Act was passed and granted couples in England and Wales the right to divorce, although it was harder for women to petition for divorce than for men. Men had to prove that their wife had committed adultery, while a woman had to prove that her husband had committed adultery and also either treated her with cruelty, deserted her, or committed incest or bigamy.
Divorce Reform Act 1969
In the following century there were numerous attempts to reform the law on divorce. However, the next substantial reform came with the Divorce Reform Act 1969. This Act introduced the system of partial no-fault divorce under which irretrievable breakdown of the marriage became the sole ground for divorce. However, the breakdown of the marriage needed to be evidenced with proof of adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion, two years separation with the consent of both parties, or five years separation if only one party consented to the divorce.
Divorce Dissolution and Separation Act 2020
The most recent, significant change to the law on divorce in England and Wales came with the Divorce Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. This completely eradicated the fault-based system of divorce, with the sole ground for divorce now being that one or both of the parties believe the marriage has irretrievably broken down. There is no longer any need for either party to a divorce to provide evidence of the breakdown of the marriage. This legal change, along with the introduction of an online Court Portal, has made divorce more accessible than ever before.
If you are separating and would like to seek advice on divorce, please get in touch with me, Rebecca Curran here , email me directly rcurran@se-solicitors.co.uk or call me on 01295 204055.
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