Richard Holden, MP for North West Durham, spoke in the Third Reading (the final part) of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill in the House of Commons. You can watch this here.
The Bill looks to revise the legal process in both England and Wales so that married couples may obtain no-fault divorces, apply for joint applications for divorce and will bring about a more simplified approach to the process. The law as it stands now states that you have to show that the marriage has irretrievably broken down, which is proven by one of five facts. The divorce can be contested by the other party.
The new Bill will look to ensure that family conflict is reduced where a divorce happens and will change the legal process to ensure that the parties are taking responsibility and, crucially, are supporting their children whilst remaining as amicable as is possible. It will remove the need to prove one of the five facts, change the timeframes and modernise the process and the language. These reforms will be made the same for the dissolution of civil partnerships.
Commenting, Richard stated ‘I recognise the importance of marriage – my parents have been married for 40 years and my grandparents have been married for 66 years. I know that not everyone is so lucky, and this Bill will remove some of the blame that can happen in divorces and some of the pain – it will allow parties to focus on the future and take responsibility. This will have a huge impact on children whose parents are going through divorce as it will remove some of the hostility and this will ensure that relationships don’t break down in a way that they currently can do. I am glad the Government has brought forward this Bill and I fully support it’.
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