Divorce unreasonable behaviour: if you’re getting divorced because of unreasonable behaviour, you might be wondering how the process works.
When you’re going through the process of a divorce in the UK, there are a lot of factors to consider. This will depend on your individual circumstances.
These factors include the unreasonable behaviour being cited, the assets you own, whether there are children involved in the relationship, as well as other key elements.
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Examples Of Unreasonable Behaviour
Unreasonable behaviour might seem like a vague phrase at first glance, but it encompasses a wide range of behaviours that can be cited in divorce.
The most common unreasonable behaviour divorce examples include:
- Domestic abuse
- Emotional abuse
- Debts and financial recklessness
- Inappropriate relationship with another person
- Lack of support
- Excessive gaming or use of social media
- Family disputes
- Verbal abuse
- Drunkenness
- Lack of socialising together
Unreasonable behaviour is cited in 45% of all divorce applications, making it the most commonly used ground for divorce in England and Wales.
The 5 grounds for divorce are:
- Adultery
- Unreasonable behaviour
- Desertion
- Living apart for more than 2 years, with an agreement
- Living apart for more than 5 years, without an agreement
If you believe the breakdown of your relationship comes under any of those grounds, or any of the featured categories of unreasonable behaviour, then it’s worth seeking expert legal advice.
What Happens If I Proceed With Divorce On The Grounds Of Unreasonable Behaviour?
The fact is that you must be able to show that your former partner has behaved in an unreasonable manner that has caused the breakdown of your marriage.
You will need to provide the court with written examples of their unreasonable behaviour on your divorce petition. This could comprise of the details of their behaviour, when it happened, and how it made you feel.
It’s also worth noting that an application for a divorce on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour MUST be submitted within 6 months of the last incident of behaviour occurring.
However, a divorce petition CAN be submitted after longer than 6 months if one partner moves out of the matrimonial home…
But if an application is deemed to have taken too long, then it might be that you need to issue a divorce petition based on grounds other than unreasonable behaviour.
The unfortunate reality is this process could be significantly delayed, with divorces then taking anything up to 5 years. This is dependant on the cooperativity of your former partner.
A couple of other things to know are that the grounds for divorce and allegations of unreasonable behaviour WON’T be shared with the public and that any allegations MUST be specific to your circumstances, and your behaviours shouldn’t be used in any way.
What happens if my former partner disputes the unreasonable behaviours?
A common concern for many people in divorce is that it’ll be a case of allegations and defence.
The natural thing for respondents to do is to defend because they disagree with the reasons given for the breakdown of the marriage…
And if your former partner is happy to proceed with the divorce but fundamentally disagrees with the reasons for it, then there might be another option.
Your former partner could tick a box that confirms they won’t contest the divorce. They don’t agree with the allegations made against them.
This will mean divorce proceedings can carry on without any delays and guarantees you’ll receive a decree absolute.
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