UK plans to introduce 'no-fault' divorce for first time


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LONDON (AP) — Britain wants to end the divorce blame game.

The government has announced plans to introduce "no-fault" divorces so separating couples no longer have to blame one another for the breakdown of a marriage.

Justice Secretary David Gauke said Tuesday that the government will introduce legislation after a public consultation revealed broad support for change.

Until now, couples have had to prove misconduct such as adultery by one partner or live apart for a fixed period before they could divorce.

The proposed changes would only require the couple to declare that their marriage had irretrievably broken down.

Jo Edwards, a family law specialist based at law firm Forsters, says lawyers will welcome steps to end "the unnecessary acrimony caused day in, day out by the current fault-based system."

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