Divorce legislation

1857

Matrimonial Causes Act (Divorce harder / longer)

- Set up civil divorce courts

- Grounds for divorce were adultery, cruelty and desertion

- One partner had to prove other guilty

- Divorce still beyond means of most people and particularly difficult for women who couldn't divorce on grounds of adultery alone (unlike men)

- Got this right in 1923

1937

Matrimonial Causes Act (Easier)

- Extended grounds for divorce (to include drunkenness, insanity and desertion)

- Spouses still had to prove an offence to get a divorce

1949

Legal Aid and Advice Act (Easier)

- Provided financial help for legal fees in divorce for those who could not afford them

1969

Divorce Reform Act (effective 1971) (Easier)

- Removed need to prove matrimonial offences, such as adultery, as a basis for divorce

- Couples only had to show marriage was 'irretrievably broken down'

- No fault divorce became possible where couple had been separated for two years, and both agreed to divorce (or 5 years if one objected)

- Made divorce accessible to nearly everyone for the first time

- In 1970s special procedure introduced that allows judges to deal with divorce cases without couple even attending court

- Vast majority of divorces dealt with using this 'quickie divorce' procedure today

1984

Matrimonial Proceedings Act (effective 1985) (easier)

- Reduced time for which a couple had to be married before they could petition for divorce from 3 years to 1 year

1996

Family Law Act (effective 1999) (longer / hard)

- Increased amount of time couple had to be married before petitioning for divorce from 1 year to 18 months

- Introduced 'period of reflection' with compulsory marriage counselling

- Required children's wishes and financial arrangements for children to be agreed before divorce was granted

- Attempt by government to reduce number of couples applying for divorce

- Compulsory counselling sessions were later abandoned as they appeared to encourage more people to go through with divorce

2011

Practice direction 3A

- Directed divorcing couples to undertake mediation (where solicitor attempts to resolve disputes between them) before they were permitted to go to court

- This was an attempt to reduce the amount of time cases took in the overworked family courts

2020

No blame law (easier)

Can acquire divorce without having to allocate blame