No-fault divorce

There's a move to have so-called "no fault" divorce in this country. Currently the law is that you can have a divorce immediately for unreasonable behaviour, or after two years' separation by mutual consent, or after five years' separation by unilateral demand of one partner. The truth is that "unreasonable behaviour" is drawn so widely that it's effectively divorce on demand. But at least lip-service is paid to the fact that the couple agreed to marry. No-fault divorce sweeps even that away.

Whenever you make divorce easier, you get more of it. As you would expect. So the question is whether an easy divorce is worth the price of more divorces. You always get individuals who claim that divorce made their lives happier. But divorce is almost never good for children.

In Adam and Abagail Go to St Tom's I've tried to show several types of intact and divorced family. So the twins have a particularly poisonous divorce, as has James. The two Marys also have divorced parents, and Mandy has a chaotic, collapsed family life. Cecilia , OTOH, comes from a loving home, whilst Sebastian's parents have a troubled but intact marriage. Albert also has parents who are together.

What I didn't show was a fighting couple who ought to divorce, because I doubt, certainly where children are involved, that there are such couples. Almost every couple can put on a bit of a front for open day at their child's school, and that is what the child really needs - a set of two parents who are interested in him and are his.

No fault divorce is a lie, because whilst the fault might be mutually shared, it's not possible for a marriage to fail without one or both partners being at fault. it also completely ignores the interests of children.