Solicitors have adopted novel ways to help divorcing clients, providing mediation and collaborative law training, online advice and now divorce ‘vouchers’. But the process itself appears increasingly outmoded, with one party still required to ‘blame’ the other unless both are prepared to wait two years.

A briefing note by London firm Manches comments that clients would like a ‘better’ system in which culpability can be set aside. So often the couple have simply drifted apart, and how can one determine who is to blame for that?

About 90% of divorces are based on the ‘fault’ of one of the parties – with two-thirds citing unreasonable behaviour and a quarter citing adultery. Manches argues that this necessity of proving fault ‘instils a culture of blame from the very beginning of any divorce’ which ‘sets an unconstructive tone’ that can be difficult for clients to overcome.

In short, the process actively fuels the acrimony that collaborative law and mediation were designed to alleviate.

There is no requirement for people to cohabit, or be in a relationship, for two years before they formalise their union, so why impose an arbitrary time period before allowing couples to formalise their separation? A ‘mutual consent’ option that does not force people to put their lives on hold, or exacerbate their emotional upheaval, is surely long overdue.