Proceedings under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020

Key provisions of DDSA 2020

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (DDSA 2020) 6 April 2022 and has been referred to as the biggest reform of divorce law in England and Wales for 50 years. It removed the requirement to establish one of the five facts contained in section 1(2) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) to establish irretrievable breakdown of the marriage and allows married couples to divorce without assigning blame, popularly known as ‘no-fault divorce’. There are equivalent provisions amending the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA 2004). The aim of the changes is to reduce conflict between couples who are either married or are in a civil partnership.

DDSA 2020 makes significant amendments to MCA 1973 and CPA 2004.

In summary, with effect from 6 April 2022, changes that were introduced by DDSA 2020 included that:

  1. while the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage or civil partnership is retained as the sole ground for divorce or dissolution, the requirement to prove evidence of one of the five facts under

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Monumental Supreme Court decision on matrimonialisation and sharing principle (Standish v Standish)

Family analysis: The Supreme Court’s much-anticipated judgment confirms unequivocally that the sharing principle does not apply to non-matrimonial property. Sharing of matrimonial property will usually be 50:50, though there may be a departure from equal division where justified. Non-matrimonial property typically has either a pre-marital origin, or, where it is received during the currency of the marriage, an external source (eg an inheritance). Title to an asset is expressly not determinative as to whether that asset is or is not matrimonial. Though non-matrimonial property may become matrimonial (ie ‘matrimonialisation’) this will depend on how the parties have been dealing with the asset and whether, over time, they have been treating that asset as shared between them. The concept of matrimonialisation is to be applied neither ‘widely’ nor ‘narrowly’ (contrary to what the Court of Appeal had held)—again, the enquiry should focus on how the parties have dealt with the asset. Where an asset is transferred from one spouse to another with the intention to save tax (as had occurred in the case), this will not normally show that the asset is being treated as shared. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the decision to dismiss the wife’s appeal, though it did not wholly agree with the Court of Appeal’s reasoning. Pursuant to that decision (made on the sharing basis) the wife would be provided with circa £25m of the total assets figure of circa £132.6m, being half of the matrimonial assets figure of £50.48m. David Wilkinson, solicitor at Slater Heelis, considers the judgment.

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