Question
Untitled item
S6W-23747 · Written Question · lodged by McArthur, Liam
Lodged on
07 Dec 2023Heard / answered on
20 Dec 2023To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-23651 by Siobhian Brown on 7 December 2023, as part of its plans to consult on marriage law reforms, whether it will consult on introducing so-called "no-fault" divorce, not requiring irretrievable marital breakdown.
The answer
The Scottish Government has no plans to do so. The consultation planned for 2024 will, in relation to divorce and dissolution, cover court procedures rather than the grounds of divorce and dissolution.
There has been recent legislation for England and Wales which changed the law on divorce and dissolution of civil partnership. Before the changes, two of the grounds of divorce in England and Wales were based on periods of separation: two years if both spouses consented to the divorce and five years otherwise.
In Scotland, irretrievable breakdown of the marriage for the purposes of divorce can be established in a number of ways, including non-cohabitation. The required periods of non-cohabitation were reduced by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 to one year if both parties consent to the divorce and two years otherwise. The 2006 Act also reduced the non-cohabitation periods for dissolution of civil partnership.
The vast majority of divorces and dissolutions in Scotland are on the bases of non-cohabitation: Supporting documents - Civil justice statistics in Scotland 2021-22 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) (see Divorce and Dissolutions Supplementary Tables 2021-22; tables 2 and 3).
There has been recent legislation for England and Wales which changed the law on divorce and dissolution of civil partnership. Before the changes, two of the grounds of divorce in England and Wales were based on periods of separation: two years if both spouses consented to the divorce and five years otherwise.
In Scotland, irretrievable breakdown of the marriage for the purposes of divorce can be established in a number of ways, including non-cohabitation. The required periods of non-cohabitation were reduced by the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 to one year if both parties consent to the divorce and two years otherwise. The 2006 Act also reduced the non-cohabitation periods for dissolution of civil partnership.
The vast majority of divorces and dissolutions in Scotland are on the bases of non-cohabitation: Supporting documents - Civil justice statistics in Scotland 2021-22 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) (see Divorce and Dissolutions Supplementary Tables 2021-22; tables 2 and 3).
Answered by Siobhian Brown on 20 Dec 2023.