Lawyers in the Channel Islands call for change in divorce law
4th August 2009 by: Deborah Jeff
Divorce law in the Channel Islands is being challenged by Jersey based law firm Hanson Renouf.
The civil litigation specialists are calling for the 60-year-old law to be reviewed, potentially dropping the minimum marriage length before divorce from three years to one. This would bring the law in line with England and Wales, where a divorce petition can be presented after one year of marriage.
Hanson Renouf is also calling for the “mud-slinging” law, which requires a husband or wife to be blamed for the collapse of a marriage, to be abolished.
Jersey law states that if you divorce before you have been separated for a year with mutual consent, or 2 years with no consent, then you have to show fault, such as adultery or unreasonable behaviour.
Barbara Corbett, Head of Family Department at Hanson Renouf, said: "The proposal is that we move away from fault-based divorce in Jersey to a system where you don't have to allege fault in order to get divorced.
"So if the marriage really is at an end and there isn't a way forward then you haven't got to start slinging mud at your partner in order to get divorced."
Deborah Jeff, Head of Family Department at Seddons said: "The law in England & Wales is that one party has to blame the other for the marriage coming to an end unless 2 years have elapsed since the separation and the other party consents to the divorce, or 5 years of separation if the other party doesn't consent. So it's already possible to present a no-fault based divorce petition in Jersey earlier after a separation than in England & Wales. It will be interesting to see the Jersey Court's decision and whether this leads to a similar call for amendment to our own divorce laws".
The civil litigation specialists are calling for the 60-year-old law to be reviewed, potentially dropping the minimum marriage length before divorce from three years to one. This would bring the law in line with England and Wales, where a divorce petition can be presented after one year of marriage.
Hanson Renouf is also calling for the “mud-slinging” law, which requires a husband or wife to be blamed for the collapse of a marriage, to be abolished.
Jersey law states that if you divorce before you have been separated for a year with mutual consent, or 2 years with no consent, then you have to show fault, such as adultery or unreasonable behaviour.
Barbara Corbett, Head of Family Department at Hanson Renouf, said: "The proposal is that we move away from fault-based divorce in Jersey to a system where you don't have to allege fault in order to get divorced.
"So if the marriage really is at an end and there isn't a way forward then you haven't got to start slinging mud at your partner in order to get divorced."
Deborah Jeff, Head of Family Department at Seddons said: "The law in England & Wales is that one party has to blame the other for the marriage coming to an end unless 2 years have elapsed since the separation and the other party consents to the divorce, or 5 years of separation if the other party doesn't consent. So it's already possible to present a no-fault based divorce petition in Jersey earlier after a separation than in England & Wales. It will be interesting to see the Jersey Court's decision and whether this leads to a similar call for amendment to our own divorce laws".
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