Helen Nile
Helen qualified as a solicitor in 1998 having completed her training as a solicitor with t...
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Should Getting Divorced Be Made Harder?
(17th July | 12:20)
New proposals to reform the law in relation to divorce have been put forward by the Centre for Social Justice. The proposals form part of a report called "Every Family Matters" and are said to be under consideration by David Cameron.
The proposals include provision for a compulsory three month "cooling off" period before the commencement of divorce proceedings. During this time, couples would be required to "reflect" on their marriage and explore the possibility of reconciliation as well as considering the financial impact of divorce proceedings.
The idea is based on a scheme which operates in Australia which requires couples to attend family relationship centres if they are considering divorcing. The report envisages the British version being called "family relationship hubs" and couples would have to attend if they wanted to divorce.
The thinking behind the proposal appears to be that this period of reflection or "cooling off" will actually save some marriages and dissuade couples from entering into divorce proceedings.
At the moment, provided a couple has been married for a minimum of twelve months, divorce proceedings can be instigated immediately by either party.
The question is however whether this proposal would actually have an impact of the number of people divorcing. Is it not the reality that people do not enter into divorce lightly and if they have decided to begin divorce proceedings, a three month "cooling off period" is not going to make any difference? Or is it the case that, faced with more information about what the process actually involves, some couples would change their view point?
What do you think?
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