Divorce and children: fact proven and interval between petition and decree

This article presents some basic statistics on divorce in England and Wales in 1994 which are relevant to the current debate on the reform of divorce law. Over one half (56 per cent) of all divorces were to couples with children aged under 16 in their family. The most frequent fact proven by wives was the unreasonable behaviour of their husbands (54 per cent of all divorces granted to wives) whilst the most frequent fact proven by husbands was their wives' adultery--37 per cent of all divorces granted to husbands. These proportions were even higher amongst divorcing wives and husbands who had children aged under 16 in their family; 60 and 45 per cent, respectively. The median interval of time between filing the petition and obtaining the decree varied little across the different groups of divorcing couples. Overall, the median interval was just under 7 months. About one in 9 couples were granted divorce within 4 months of filing the petition, 2 in 5 within 6 months, and approximately 4 in 5 divorces were granted within one year.