Family Law

The court must be satisfied that the marriage has broken down irretrievably, which you show through one of six facts. Since 1 July 2024, one of those facts is mutual agreement. Most couples must be married for three years before filing, and the case then runs in two stages: ending the marriage, then settling the children, maintenance and assets.

It is a divorce where both spouses agree, before filing, that the marriage should end and on the fact relied on. The case then runs on the simplified track, and you usually do not need to attend the hearing. Under the current rules you can use this track even if some issues about the children, maintenance or assets are still open.

If you have a child under 21, you must complete the Mandatory Co-Parenting Programme before filing for divorce. Divorcing parents with a child under 21 are also generally required to attend mediation and counselling at the Family Justice Courts, at no cost. The court can also direct other couples to mediation or counselling.

The court first identifies the pool of matrimonial assets, then divides it in the proportion it considers just and equitable. In many cases it looks at each spouse's direct financial contributions and their indirect contributions to the family, including homemaking, and then adjusts for other factors. There is no fixed formula and no automatic equal split.

Both parents must maintain their children, usually until the child turns 21, and the court shares the cost according to each parent's means. A wife or former wife can ask for maintenance, and so can a husband who is incapacitated. There is no fixed formula: the court looks at needs, means and the family's circumstances.

Custody is the right to make major decisions about a child, such as education, religion and serious medical matters. Care and control decides who the child mainly lives with and who handles daily life, and access is the time the other parent spends with the child. In every case, the court's first concern is the child's welfare.