Grounds for divorce

According to the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 there are, essentially, five grounds for divorce. The Act lists the following as grounds for divorce:

• Adultery. Unless the adultery is on-going, you must file for divorce within six months of discovering the behaviour. You will also have to provide some kind of proof that sexual intercourse occurred between your spouse and another person
• Unreasonable behaviour.  this does not have to be extreme behaviour, and can include matters such as devoting too much time to a career or having no common interests
• Two years’ separation, with the consent of both parties
• Two years’ separation without the consent of both parties (desertion)
• Five years’ separation, if the parties do not agree to the break-up

Of these five grounds, only one may be used explicitly without the agreement of your spouse. That is, if you have lived apart from your spouse for more than five years, you may be able to obtain a divorce even if your spouse does not consent. However, if you apply for a divorce on this ground, your spouse can object if a divorce will cause them extreme financial difficulties.

It is a fact that if one partner wants a divorce and petitions on another ground, such as unreasonable behaviour, there is little that can be done to stop this process ending in a divorce. This is because divorces are exceptionally difficult to defend. Indeed, respondents often use a defence only as a delaying tactic, in order to negotiate better terms relating to finance or child-care. This is particularly the case if they object to the reasons for the divorce, cited in the petition.

If you want to obtain a divorce, but your spouse has not given their agreement, your best option would be to speak to a family law solicitor. Specialist solicitors in Leicester can give impartial legal advice on the possible ways to remedy the situation, whilst looking out for your best interests.

Divorce is a complicated process involving several different elements. Of course it is more likely to be complicate dif there are children involved. Not only will any divorce concern custody arrangements but the division of assets is a crucial part for most couples. As such, the help of specialist solicitors is crucial in order to secure the best outcome for all parties involved.

Irwin Mitchell understands how important it is to their clients to know what is going on with their case. In recognition of this, Irwin Mitchell has established an online facility that makes it possible for clients to monitor their case’s progress once they have started consultation. Irwin Mitchell has also made it easy for clients or potential clients to know about expenses of their legal representation from the beginning. If the client plans on entering a guilty plea, the costs for legal representation is £350 plus the VAT. On the other hand, if the client is going to plead not guilty, then the expense increases to £750 plus VAT.

For those clients who need legal representation for motoring offences occurring either in Scotland or overseas, Irwin Mitchell is unable to represent these clients themselves. However, they do have lawyers that they can recommend to clients.  One of the most respected law firms in the United Kingdom, Irwin Mitchell is able to offer legal advice to their clients. They provide honest and accurate advice to clients. They are able to protect the interests of their clients.

If you want to know more about Irwin Mitchell’s road traffic accident services and want to know more about how personal injury solicitors in Leicester will deal with your case, then visit www.irwinmitchell.com.

Consultation is currently ongoing until next September as to the possibility of significantly extending the cover for holidays taken abroad with flights. Whilst the current regulations resulted in 190,000 successful claims last year, it is believed that up to 6 million such holidays may not be covered because we are all becoming g more savvy about mixing and matching bookings for flights and accommodation and such like. We will update further on this story as it develops further. In the meantime, here is a link to another good source of information on holiday personal injury claims.

Virtually every week there seems to be a debate over whether rates will go up this year or not. No doubt, there is something of a perfect storm in place. Do nothing and inflation keeps rising. Raise rates and consumers, already in big difficulties, will be in even deeper trouble. This week, based on the minutes of the last monetary Policy Committee meeting, the consensus is now that rates may not rise this year. All in all, if you are thinking whether to remortgage and fix your interest rate at what is still a relatively low level, it’s very hard to know what to do.

There are now many social media evangelists championing the positive effect that social media such as linked in and Twitter are having on business now that we’re all “connected”. We are fans ourselves but with the positive effects also comes the downside.

Research from ELAS suggests that during the working days of last Friday and today, the UK economy may have lost around £30 million due to lost time because of the deluge of social media updates in relation to the hugely popular Glastonbury festival. This lost time is caused by friends checking updates and photos from friends who have been at the festival during work time.

Social media creates a difficult employment law and HR conundrum for employers. Get too tough and this may damage staff morale and possibly cause other legal issues if rules are not applied consistently. Go too easy and your business could suffer significantly. We would also strongly recommend that all business have clear social media policies including confidentiality and discipline in the vent of breach.