Q. My husband & I agreed to separate 5 months ago as we no longer loved each other and had been living separate lives for many years. I met another man shortly afterwards and last month I moved in with him. I have now received a divorce petition form the court saying my husband intends to divorce me on the grounds of my adultery. This is not the reason the marriage broke down and I do not see why I should take the blame for our marriage fizzling out. Can I fight this?
A. From what you say it appears the marriage was over before not because of your new relationship and you could therefore defend an adultery petition if you really wanted to. However, we have a no fault divorce system in this country which means that the court is only concerned with whether the marriage has irretrievably broken down, not with whose fault it was.
Given that the marriage is clearly over, there may be little point in fighting the proceedings. However, I would recommend that you seek expert legal advice from one of our Matrimonial Solicitors asp who will be able to advise you in more detail as to how to proceed. They will also be able to give you advice regarding your financial entitlement on divorce.
Should you have any queries regarding this or related issues please contact Keith Swan of Patterson, Glenton & Stracey Solicitors by email at ks@pgslaw.co.uk or by telephone on 0808 231 7043. Patterson, Glenton & Stracey have provided expert legal advice to the people of South Tyneside for over 125 years. For details of their full range of services and to view previous Gazette articles please log on to www.pgslaw.co.uk
