Criminal Law: Understanding Your RightCriminal Law: Understanding Your Right

If your marriage has broken down irreconcilably, traumatic times are ahead. You might be beginning to understand how serious the situation is, and no amount of intervention by well-meaning friends or guidance counsellors has made any difference. Therefore, it's time to start thinking about a formal end to the union, but this could be an even more emotional time for you. After all, won't all of your private details be published so that everybody can see?

Less Public

Times have changed when it comes to the typical divorce proceedings, and it is now no longer necessary to wash your dirty linen in public, so to speak. It used to be that one of the parties had to prove the other to be at fault somehow in order for any judgement to be made by a court. This would require evidence to be brought forward for discussion in order for the judges to come up with their decision.

Simpler Options

However, today, the "no-fault" solution is far more prevalent and should make the entire experience a little easier for you.

Instead of trying to prove that the other party was culpable, you simply need to show that the marriage is irretrievably broken and cannot be saved. For example, you need to show that you have been living different lives for a long time now (typically a year), and this doesn't mean that you have to live in different properties, either. The law recognises that you can be separated, but still living under the same roof, and you can still mingle your funds together in order to pay for crucial utilities or rent.

Property and Maintenance

You can get a divorce decree without sorting out all the details related to your property. It's normal, however, for all property matters to be settled within one year from the date the divorce was recorded. You should also note that one of the parties may be required to ensure that the other is maintained properly after the ruling, if they're not able to look after themselves financially on their own.

Children First

It's important to remember that the welfare and care of your children, if you have any, is paramount. You must address these issues and come up with a solid and workable plan before the courts will give you any type of divorce decree.

Privacy Ruling

Even this amount of information can be kept relatively private during divorce proceedings in the modern era. In fact, typically the court has to make a special ruling to introduce information into the public record.

Getting Support

To ensure that you are adequately represented and to try and make this as painless as possible, get in touch with a family lawyer who can help you, step-by-step.