Contrary to popular belief, divorces are not granted for ‘Irreconcilable differences’ under UK law .
You may have read about Hollywood couples citing this in their proceedings but actually, this is one of only two possible grounds for divorce available in California, the other one being ‘Incurable Insanity!’ This is because, unlike England and Wales, California is a ‘no fault divorce’ jurisdiction.
In England you can only apply for a divorce after one year of marriage and there is only one ground for divorce and that is the ‘Irretrievable breakdown of a marriage’.
The breakdown of a marriage can be demonstrated in 5 different ways:
- Adultery
- Unreasonable Behaviour
- Desertion
- Two years separation with consent
- Five years separation without consent
So what is the most common grounds for divorce? According to the Office of National Statistics, 54% of women and 38% of men cited ‘behaviour’ as their reason for divorce and two years separation with consent for 31% of couples.
Surprisingly, adultery is not the number one cause of divorce – Grant Thornton found that 29% of the respondents in their survey cited ‘growing apart’ as their reason for divorce, compared with 24% who cited an extra-marital affair, the next most popular answer.
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