Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Key definition
Dissolution definition What does Dissolution mean? In family law, dissolution is the court process that ends a civil partnership and restores each partner to single status. It is the route used to end both same‑sex and opposite‑sex civil partnerships in the UK, and remaining same‑sex civil partnerships in Ireland. In England and Wales, dissolution is a statutory process under the Civil Partnership Act 2004, as amended by the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020: a sole or joint application supported by a statement of irretrievable breakdown leads (after a minimum 20‑week period) to a conditional order and then a final order. Northern Ireland now operates a...
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No-fault divorce (England and Wales) post-DDSA 2020: client guide to applications, joint/sole process, service, conditional/final orders, timescales, costs, and interaction with children and financial remedies
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Precedents
This note offers general guidance on divorce procedure only. Your family lawyer will be able to give specific advice tailored to your circumstances.
No fault divorce
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 (DDSA 2020) has been widely described as a landmark reform of divorce law, intended to make the process less acrimonious by introducing what is commonly termed ‘no fault divorce’. For the first time, this legislation completely removes the need to attribute blame when commencing divorce proceedings, changing both tone and approach. The revised divorce procedure applies to applications issued from 6 April 2022. Historically, in England and Wales, anyone applying for a divorce had to demonstrate that the marriage had broken down irretrievably, and to do so they were required to prove one of five facts. Three of those facts depended on fault—Adultery with a person of the opposite sex, Unreasonable behaviour, and Desertion—while the other two relied upon a period of separation, namely two years’ separation with consent or five years’ separation without consent...
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Web page updated on 22/05/2026
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