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Adultery and divorce – naming and shaming

Date:4 SEP 2017
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Carla Ditz
Family Law in Partnership Ltd


The Financial Remedies Handbook is the first resort for thousands of matrimonial lawyers by combining a clear explanation of the applicable legal principles with straightforward advice on practice and procedure.

This new edition for 2017 has been thoroughly revised and contains detailed analysis and practical guidance on all recent case-law and procedural developments.


The 11th edition is available to order here.


This blog looks at adultery and the revised divorce petition from the Ministry of Justice which openly invites the petitioner to name the person with whom the respondent has committed adultery. Whilst naming this third party is nothing new per se family practitioners argue that the new form could result in more petitioners doing so without necessarily realising the consequences of their actions.

The divorce petition and irretrievable breakdown

The Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (MCA 1973) s 1(1) provides that there is only one ground for divorce namely that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. Irretrievable breakdown can further be proved by one of five facts (MCA 1973 s1(2)):

  • adultery
  • unreasonable behaviour
  • desertion
  • two years separation with...

Read the full article here.