Overstretched courts could see a glut of divorce cases this year as unhappy spouses take advantage of new laws meaning they no longer have to assign blame to end their marriage. Husbands and wives across England and Wales filed 22,683 divorce petitions in the three months to December last year, the latest Ministry of Justice (MoJ) figures show.
That was down from 30,454 over the same three months a year earlier, and was the lowest figure for any three-month period since comparable recorders began in 2003. It means the number of petitions fell by more than a quarter (26%), which was also the largest drop proportionally on record.
The MoJ said this may be down to people waiting for new “no-fault” divorce laws that come into force on Wednesday (April 6). The changes mean someone can divorce their partner without having to prove they have committed adultery, deserted them or behaved in an “unreasonable” way.
