What happened to unreasonable behaviour in divorce?

Traditionally, a partner’s unreasonable behaviour has been the most common reason for someone seeking a divorce, with 45 per cent of all divorce applications citing this as the grounds for a split.

Unreasonable behaviour could mean many things – from domestic or emotional abuse, to financial abuse from debts being accrued, or even excessive gaming, citing unreasonable in some cases helped to encapsulate why one partner was no longer happy to remain in a marriage.

While for many spouses this was an opportunity to highlight what had gone wrong, and to state the reasons why they believed the marriage had broken down due to their other half’s behaviour, it could also lead to dispute and acrimony from the very outset of the case. In some cases, pointing the finger of blame in this way did make things a lot worse.

But as of April 2022, and the introduction of the No Fault Divorce, the situation around ‘unreasonable behaviour’ changed. Married couples could now apply for divorce without attributing blame, instead stating that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. The thought process behind this was that parties could start the journey of separating and divorcing in a more conciliatory manner – in the hope that arrangements around children and finances could be made in an amicable manner.

Whilst unreasonable behaviour can of course still be the motivation for seeking a divorce, the changes in the law mean that you cannot specify what this behaviour involves and what exactly went wrong.

Pre-2022, any spouse alleging unreasonable behaviour would need to include written evidence of this in the divorce petition, detailing what happened, when it occurred and how it made them feel.

Now, things are much simpler. There is no reason to assign blame, no need for finger pointing, and any possible additional upset caused as a result of this may be avoided.

A divorce application can be made on a No Fault basis, which can result in a quicker and less acrimonious process for both parties, leaving them able to move forward in their lives as soon as possible.

For any advice in how to pursue a divorce or separation, Slater and Gordon's specialist family team can help. Speak to us on 0330 041 5869 or contact us online.