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Lawyers call for reform of divorce system
Thu 07 Jan 2010
Many legal professionals in the UK have urged the government to revise the rules governing divorce cases.
According to consumer law website TakeLegalAdvice.com, three-quarters of lawyers believe men and women should not have to blame each other, possibly by claiming unreasonable behaviour, to get a divorce.
Although such a move is not currently backed by the major political parties, solicitors believe this would create far less suffering for the families involved.
Nicholas Longford, chair of Resolution, acknowledged that unreasonable behaviour is appropriate in some cases.
However, he told the Independent he believes that apportioning blame only serves to create animosity among some couples.
Mr Longford stated that this only adds more heartache to what is already a very distressing process.
Carol Ellinas, a partner at Winckworth Sherwood, added: "In my opinion there is only one situation where a 'no fault divorce' would be appropriate and that is when both parties want a divorce and neither wants to blame the other for the breakdown of the marriage.
"This can still be achieved if both parties instruct solicitors who are able to explain to their clients that all that is needed is a mildly worded petition which is approved by the other party."
This comes after a poll by Unbiased.co.uk found that two-fifths of family law specialists have seen an increase in the amount of time it takes to reach a divorce settlement over the last year.
Ms Ellinas said: "There is no reason why it should take longer to reach a settlement in an economic downturn.
"A solicitor must take time to go through all the options available to the client and what might be the long term implications of a particular settlement but this applies equally during good economic times."
