No-fault divorce

No-fault divorce is the name commonly given to the law of divorce in England and Wales since 6 April 2022, when the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 came into force.[1][2] The Act kept irretrievable breakdown as the only ground for divorce but removed the requirement to prove it by one of five facts, three of which (adultery, behaviour and desertion) involved blaming the other spouse. A statement by one or both spouses that the marriage has broken down irretrievably is now conclusive, and the court “must” make a divorce order.[3] The Act also introduced joint applications, a minimum period of 20 weeks between the application and the conditional order, and new terminology, and removed the ability to contest a divorce except on grounds of jurisdiction, the validity of the marriage or procedural irregularity.[4][5]

The reform followed decades of criticism of the fault-based system, the Nuffield Foundation’s 2017 study Finding Fault, and the Supreme Court’s decision in Owens v Owens [2018] UKSC 41, in which a wife was refused a divorce because her husband’s behaviour did not meet the statutory test.[6][7] The same changes were made for the dissolution of civil partnerships.[8] In the first quarter under the new law there were 33,566 divorce applications, 22 per cent of them joint, and by 2023 74.2 per cent of all divorces granted were under the new legislation.[9][10] The procedure itself, from application to final order, is described on the main divorce article.

Written by Jess Knauf, Director of Client Strategy at Mediate UK and Associate Member of Resolution. Reviewed by Belinda Atkins, Managing Director of Mediate UK. Last reviewed 6 September 2026; last updated 6 September 2026; next scheduled review March 2027.

Definition

“No-fault divorce” is not a statutory term. It describes a system in which a marriage can be ended without either spouse having to prove that the other is at fault, and without any period of separation having to be shown. In England and Wales the phrase is used for the regime created by the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, whose long title is “an Act to make in relation to marriage and civil partnership in England and Wales provision about divorce, dissolution and separation; and for connected purposes”.[11]

The description is accurate as to the ground for divorce but needs two qualifications. First, the old law already permitted divorce without fault, after two years’ separation with the other spouse’s consent or five years’ separation without it; what the 2020 Act removed was the need to choose between fault and delay.[12] Second, the reform did not alter the law on the financial consequences of divorce, in which the conduct of a party remains a relevant factor in exceptional cases; see financial settlement.

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 received Royal Assent on 25 June 2020.[11] It has nine sections: section 1 substitutes a new section 1 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 and makes consequential changes for divorce; section 2 removes the factual grounds for judicial separation; sections 3 and 4 make the equivalent changes to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 for dissolution; section 5 deals with separation orders; and sections 6 to 9 contain minor and consequential amendments, extent, commencement and the short title.[1] The Act extends to England and Wales only.[11]

Apart from provisions about regulations, the Act came into force on 6 April 2022 under regulation 2 of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (Commencement) Regulations 2022, SI 2022/283, which provides that the Act “comes into force on 6th April 2022 in so far as it is not already in force”.[2] Applications issued before that date continue under the old law. A substituted Part 7 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and a new Practice Direction 7A came into force on the same day.[13][5]

What changed on 6 April 2022

The 2020 Act made six changes to divorce law. It replaced proof of one of five facts with a statement of irretrievable breakdown that the court must accept as conclusive; it allowed spouses to apply jointly; it removed the respondent’s ability to defend the divorce on the merits; it introduced a minimum period of 20 weeks between the start of proceedings and the conditional order, while keeping the six weeks between conditional and final order; it replaced the terms petitioner, decree nisi and decree absolute with applicant, conditional order and final order; and it applied the same changes to civil partnership dissolution and to judicial separation.[3][4][8][1]

Divorce in England and Wales before and after the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020
ElementBefore 6 April 2022From 6 April 2022
GroundIrretrievable breakdownIrretrievable breakdown (unchanged)[3]
ProofOne of five facts: adultery, behaviour, desertion, two years’ separation with consent, five years’ separationA statement that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, which is conclusive[3][12]
Court’s roleInquire into the facts alleged; refuse a decree if the fact was not proved, however clear the breakdownMust take the statement as conclusive and make the order[7][3]
Who appliesOne spouse (the petitioner) against the other (the respondent)One spouse, or both spouses jointly[3][4]
DefendingRespondent could file an answer denying the fact; a defended suit was triedNo answer may dispute irretrievable breakdown; disputes limited to jurisdiction, validity or subsistence of the marriage, and procedure[5][14]
Minimum time to first orderNone beyond processing time; an undefended decree nisi could follow within weeks20 weeks from the start of proceedings before the applicant may confirm and apply for a conditional order[3]
Time from first to second orderSix weeks (and one day in practice)Six weeks (unchanged); court may shorten in a particular case[3][15]
TerminologyPetition, petitioner, decree nisi, decree absoluteApplication, applicant, conditional order, final order[4]
One-year barNo petition within the first year; events in that year could not found a later petitionNo application within the first year; the second limb repealed[16]
Respondent’s financial protectionSection 10 of the 1973 Act: respondent could ask the court to consider their financial position before decree absoluteRetained, in a sole application or where a joint application has become sole[17]

The five facts abolished

From 1 January 1971, under the Divorce Reform Act 1969 and then section 1(2) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, a petitioner had to satisfy the court of one of five facts: that the respondent had committed adultery and the petitioner found it intolerable to live with them; that the respondent had behaved in such a way that the petitioner could not reasonably be expected to live with them; that the respondent had deserted the petitioner for two years; that the parties had lived apart for two years and the respondent consented to a decree; or that they had lived apart for five years.[18][12][7] The court could not grant a decree unless a fact was proved, even where it was satisfied that the marriage had broken down.[7]

In practice the facts shaped how couples divorced. A petitioner who did not want to wait two years had to allege adultery or behaviour, and the behaviour particulars, though often mild, had to be drafted, served and read. The Ministry of Justice reported that between 2016 and 2018 the behaviour fact accounted for 46.4 per cent of all petitions, or 47.1 per cent with adultery.[19] The Nuffield Foundation’s Finding Fault study found a wide gap between the law and how it was used, and recommended replacing the facts with a system of notification.[6][12] The 2020 Act repealed section 1(2) entirely; there is no longer any statutory list of facts, and the application form does not ask why the marriage has broken down.[3][20]

The statement of irretrievable breakdown

Section 1(2) of the 1973 Act now provides that an application “must be accompanied by a statement by the applicant or applicants that the marriage has broken down irretrievably”, and section 1(3) that the court “must (a) take the statement to be conclusive evidence that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, and (b) make a divorce order”.[3] The statement is part of the application form and is verified by a statement of truth. No supporting evidence, particulars or corroboration is required, and the court has no power to test it.[3][20]

The statement is made at the start of proceedings and confirmed at the conditional order stage. Section 1(5) requires the applicant, or both joint applicants, to have “confirmed to the court that they wish the application to continue” before a conditional order can be made, and rule 7.9 requires the application for a conditional order to be accompanied by a statement that the contents of the original application remain true.[3][13] The two-step structure was intended to ensure that the decision to divorce is a considered one, without reintroducing any inquiry into the reasons.[4]

The end of defended divorces

Because the statement is conclusive, there is nothing for a respondent to deny. Practice Direction 7A provides that “an answer cannot be filed disputing the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage or civil partnership” and that a respondent may dispute the application only as to “the validity or subsistence of the marriage or civil partnership or the jurisdiction of the court”.[5] GOV.UK tells respondents that they “cannot dispute the divorce simply because they do not want a divorce or to delay the process” and “must have a genuine legal reason”.[14] The government’s 2019 announcement listed the remaining grounds as jurisdiction, the validity of the marriage, fraud, coercion and procedural compliance.[19]

Defended divorces were already rare before 2022. The Nuffield research found that defending was expensive, complicated and unlikely to succeed, and Owens v Owens was notable precisely because it was one of the few defended behaviour petitions to reach trial.[6][7] What the reform removed was not so much a practical option as the threat of one: a respondent could no longer hold up a divorce by indicating an intention to defend, or extract concessions in negotiations about money or children in return for not doing so.[4] Two residual protections remain. Section 9 of the 1973 Act allows any person, including the King’s Proctor, to show cause why a conditional order should not be made final “by reason of material facts not having been brought before the court”, and section 10 allows a respondent to a sole application to ask the court to withhold the final order until it has considered their financial position.[21][17]

Joint applications

Under the old law one spouse always had to petition against the other, however amicable the separation. Section 1(1) now allows “either or both parties to a marriage” to apply, and the Ministry of Justice described the change as allowing couples “for the first time” to make a joint statement of irretrievable breakdown.[3][4] In a joint application both spouses are applicants, both must confirm at the 20-week point that they wish to continue, and either may apply for the final order.[3][15] Section 1(6) of the 2020 Act, as enacted, allows the Family Procedure Rules to provide for a joint application to become a sole one if one applicant withdraws, and GOV.UK confirms that a person “can apply for a conditional order and continue with the divorce as a sole applicant, even if you started the divorce process jointly”.[22][23] Where a joint application becomes sole, the section 10 financial protection becomes available to the spouse who withdrew.[17]

Joint applications made up 22 per cent of applications in April to June 2022, 24 per cent in January to March 2023 and 28 per cent in January to March 2026.[9][24][25] Among final orders granted under the new law in 2023, 73.1 per cent had begun as sole applications.[10]

The minimum periods

The 2020 Act created a minimum overall period of 26 weeks. Section 1(5) prevents the applicant confirming the application “before the end of the period of 20 weeks from the start of proceedings”, so no conditional order can be made before then; section 1(4)(b) prevents the final order “before the end of the period of 6 weeks from the making of the conditional order”.[3] The Lord Chancellor may vary either period by statutory instrument provided the total does not exceed 26 weeks, and the court may shorten either period in a particular case.[3] In practice the median divorce under the new law took 27 weeks to conditional order and 39 weeks to final order in January to March 2026.[25]

The 20-week period was the government’s answer to the argument that removing fault would make divorce quicker. The 2019 announcement proposed “20 weeks from petition stage to decree nisi; 6 weeks from decree nisi to decree absolute”, creating “a six-month overall minimum timeframe”; the 2022 press release described it as a period for reflection and for agreeing arrangements for children and finances.[19][4] The choice to run the period from issue rather than service was debated during the Bill’s passage, since a respondent served late has less than 20 weeks’ notice; the rules require the court to be satisfied that the respondent has been served before a conditional order is made.[12][13] The six-week period between the two orders, which pre-dates the reform, is examined on divorce timescales together with the reasons many applicants wait longer before applying for the final order.

Civil partnerships and judicial separation

Sections 3 and 4 of the 2020 Act made parallel changes to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004. Section 44 of that Act now allows “either or both civil partners” to apply for a dissolution order accompanied by a statement of irretrievable breakdown, which the court must treat as conclusive, and section 37A provides for conditional and final dissolution orders with the same 20-week and six-week periods.[8][26] The differences between dissolution and divorce are now almost entirely ones of terminology; see dissolution of a civil partnership.

Sections 2 and 5 removed the factual grounds for judicial separation and for separation orders in civil partnerships, so that either may now be obtained on application without any allegation about the other party.[1] Judicial separation remains available to spouses who cannot divorce within the first year of marriage or who object to divorce on religious grounds.[16]

Statistics since April 2022

Divorce applications and orders in England and Wales under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020
PeriodApplicationsSole / jointNotes
April to June 202233,56678% / 22% (of 33,234 under the new law)Up 22 per cent on the same quarter of 2021; the highest quarterly figure in a decade[9]
January to March 202328,865 under the new law76% / 24%Down 5 per cent on January to March 2022; 27,465 final orders, of which 18,164 under the new law and 9,301 decrees absolute under the old law[24]
Calendar year 2023Not reported by ONS73.1% of new-law final orders began as sole applications102,678 divorces granted, 76,164 (74.2 per cent) under the new legislation; 1,138 dissolutions, 773 (67.9 per cent) under the new legislation[10]
January to March 202628,63272% / 28%Down 5 per cent on a year earlier; 27,320 final orders, up 24 per cent; median 27 weeks to conditional order and 39 weeks to final order[25]

The first quarter’s surge reflected applicants who had waited for the new law rather than petition on a fault fact, and the Ministry of Justice noted that any application made from 6 April 2022 “would have had to have waited at least 20 weeks before getting to conditional order stage”.[9][25] The transition depressed the number of divorces recorded by the ONS in 2022 and inflated 2023; the ONS states that the 2023 increase “reflects the lower number of final orders recorded in 2022, following the introduction of the new legislation”.[10] Average times in the first year were 31 weeks to conditional order and 42 weeks to final order for digital cases, which made up 96 per cent of applications.[24] The most recent ONS release is for 2023; a release covering 2024 and 2025 is due on 23 September 2026.[10]

History: the road to reform

From the five facts to no-fault divorce
DateDevelopment
1 January 1971The Divorce Reform Act 1969 came into force, replacing the matrimonial offences with irretrievable breakdown proved by one of five facts, consolidated in the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973[18][12]
1996Part II of the Family Law Act 1996 provided for no-fault divorce after an information meeting and a period of reflection and consideration[27][12]
2001After pilot schemes, the government announced that Part II was unworkable and would not be implemented[28][12]
13 May 2014Part II of the 1996 Act was repealed, except section 22, by section 18 of the Children and Families Act 2014[29][27]
October 2017Finding Fault, led by Professor Liz Trinder for the Nuffield Foundation, recommended removing fault and moving to a notification system[6]
25 July 2018The Supreme Court dismissed Mrs Owens’s appeal. Lord Wilson: “Parliament may wish to consider whether to replace a law which denies to Mrs Owens any present entitlement to a divorce”; Lady Hale: “I have found this a very troubling case”[7]
15 September 2018The Ministry of Justice published the consultation Reducing family conflict: reform of the legal requirements for divorce, which closed on 10 December 2018[19]
9 April 2019The government announced legislation to retain irretrievable breakdown as the sole ground, remove the facts, introduce joint applications, remove the ability to contest and set a 20-week minimum[19]
13 June 2019A first Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill was introduced in the Commons and reported from committee without amendment on 2 July 2019, but did not complete its passage before the end of the 2017-19 Parliament[30]
7 January 2020The Bill was reintroduced in the House of Lords, reaching the Commons on 25 March 2020[12]
25 June 2020Royal Assent[11]
6 April 2022Commencement under SI 2022/283, with the new Family Procedure Rules Part 7 and online service[2][13][4]

The case that gave the reform its momentum turned on the behaviour fact. Tini Owens, then 68, petitioned in 2015 on the basis of her husband’s behaviour; the trial judge found her allegations flimsy, and the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court held that they could not interfere with that finding even though the marriage had plainly broken down. Lord Wilson wrote of “uneasy feelings” about the summary procedure used for defended suits, and Lady Hale said that “it is not for us to change the law laid down by Parliament”.[7] Mrs Owens would have been able to divorce without her husband’s consent in 2020, five years after separation; under the current law she could have obtained a final order within about six months of applying.[3]

Criticism and debate

The Bill drew broad support from family law practitioners and researchers and was opposed by some parliamentarians and faith groups who argued that removing fault would weaken marriage and make divorce a unilateral act.[12] The government’s answer was that the old law did not save marriages but required allegations that increased conflict, and that the new minimum period was longer than the time an undefended divorce had previously taken.[19][4] The running of the 20-week period from issue rather than from service was among the points debated.[12]

Since 2022 attention has shifted from the ground to the process. A respondent who denies that the marriage has broken down has no remedy, since no answer may dispute the statement.[5] The speed and automation of the online service also mean that an unrepresented applicant can obtain a final order before the finances are resolved, with consequences for pension and inheritance rights that GOV.UK addresses by advising that a financial order be sought “before you apply for a final order”.[15] The court statistics show that many applicants do wait: the median time to final order under the new law, 39 weeks, is well above the 26-week minimum.[25]

See also

References

  1. Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (2020 c. 11). legislation.gov.uk. Royal Assent 25 June 2020. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  2. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (Commencement) Regulations 2022, SI 2022/283. legislation.gov.uk. Regulation 2: the Act comes into force on 6 April 2022 in so far as not already in force. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  3. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 1: Divorce on breakdown of marriage. legislation.gov.uk. As substituted from 6 April 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  4. “Blame game” ends as no-fault divorce comes into force. Ministry of Justice. 6 April 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  5. Practice Direction 7A: Procedure for applications in matrimonial and civil partnership proceedings. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  6. Trinder, L., Braybrook, D., Bryson, C., Coleman, L., Houlston, C. and Sefton, M.. Finding Fault? Divorce Law and Practice in England and Wales. Nuffield Foundation. 2017. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  7. Owens v Owens [2018] UKSC 41. Find Case Law, The National Archives. 25 July 2018. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  8. Civil Partnership Act 2004, section 44: Dissolution of civil partnership which has broken down irretrievably. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  9. Family Court Statistics Quarterly, April to June 2022. Ministry of Justice. 12 October 2022. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  10. Divorces and dissolutions in England and Wales: 2023. Office for National Statistics. 2 July 2025. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  11. Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020: introductory text and long title. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  12. Commons Library analysis: Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill [HL] 2019-21 (CBP-8697). House of Commons Library. 4 June 2020. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  13. Family Procedure Rules 2010, Part 7: Procedure for applications in matrimonial and civil partnership proceedings. Ministry of Justice. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  14. Get a divorce: what happens after you apply. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  15. Get a divorce: finalise your divorce. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  16. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 3: Bar on applying for a divorce order within one year of marriage. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  17. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 10: Proceedings before divorce order made final: special protection for respondent. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  18. Divorce Reform Act 1969 (1969 c. 55). legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  19. New divorce law to end the blame game. Ministry of Justice. 9 April 2019. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  20. Get a divorce: how to apply. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  21. Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 9: Proceedings before divorce order has been made final. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  22. Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, section 1: Divorce: removal of requirement to establish facts etc (as enacted). legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  23. Get a divorce: apply for a conditional order or decree nisi. GOV.UK. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  24. Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2023. Ministry of Justice. 29 June 2023. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  25. Family Court Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026. Ministry of Justice. 25 June 2026. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  26. Civil Partnership Act 2004, section 37A: Dissolution on ground of breakdown: conditional and final orders. legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  27. Family Law Act 1996, Part II: Divorce and separation (repealed except section 22). legislation.gov.uk. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  28. “No-fault divorce” (SN01409). House of Commons Library. 10 April 2019. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  29. Children and Families Act 2014, section 18: Repeal of uncommenced provisions of Part 2 of the Family Law Act 1996. legislation.gov.uk. In force 13 May 2014. Accessed 5 September 2026.
  30. Commons Library analysis: Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill 2017-19 (CBP-8594). House of Commons Library. 10 July 2019. Accessed 5 September 2026.

This article is part of Divorce Law Wiki, published by Family Legal Ltd. It is general information about the law of England and Wales, not legal advice. Last reviewed 6 September 2026. About this site and editorial policy · Report an error.