This recent Court of Appeal case was widely reported in the press. Mr and Mrs Owens were married in 1978 and had two children together before separating in 2015. The wife filed for divorce citing the ground that her husband had behaved in such a way that she cannot reasonably be expected to live with him (section 1(2)(b) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973). The husband contested the divorce.
At the divorce hearing, the judge dismissed the wife’s petition having determined that the husband had not behaved in such a way that the wife could not reasonably be expected to live with him. The judge disregarded the 27 allegations made by the wife in support of her petition stating that they were “minor altercations of a kind to be expected in a marriage”.
The wife appealed the dismissal of the petition but her appeal was also dismissed, albeit reluctantly. The Court of Appeal then questioned whether the current law was fit for purpose.
The vast majority of divorce petitions are not defended at all. Accordingly, the courts rarely look into the facts alleged by the petitioner as there is no real reason to do so in an undefended petition.
This decision has led to calls for Parliament to change the law to formally allow a no-fault divorce. As it is, Mrs Owens will remain married to her husband, despite the marriage having broken down, for five years until she can issue a petition without citing unreasonable behaviour.