Divorce laws in UK(United Kingdom)

You can get a divorce if you have been married at least a year and your relationship has permanently broken down.

You must have a marriage that is legally recognised in the UK, and have a permanent home in England or Wales.

Grounds for divorce

You must show there are good reasons for ending your marriage. You can give 5 grounds for a divorce.

Adultery

Your husband or wife had sex with someone else of the opposite sex, and you can no longer bear to live with them.

You can’t give adultery as a reason if you lived with your husband or wife for 6 months after you found out about it.

Unreasonable behaviour

Your husband or wife behaved so badly that you can no longer bear to live with them.

This could include:

physical violence

verbal abuse, eg insults or threats

drunkenness or drug-taking

refusing to pay for housekeeping

Desertion

Your husband or wife has left you:

without your agreement

without a good reason

to end your relationship

for more than 2 years in the past 2.5 years

You can still claim desertion if you have lived together for up to a total of 6 months in this period.

You have lived apart for more than 2 years

You can get a divorce if you’ve lived apart for more than 2 years and both agree to the divorce.

Your husband or wife must agree in writing.

You have lived apart for more than 5 years

Living apart for more than 5 years is usually enough to get a divorce, even if your husband or wife disagrees with the divorce.