Should Divorce Laws Be Made More Lenient?

Celebrities have the best of the lawyers at their disposal, and the money to hire their solicitors. And yet, a long time is taken before their problems are solved if they are to contest their cases. When it comes to anyone else who is not a millionaire but still need to fight a divorce, the case might drag on for about two years, depleting them of their resources considerably. Easier divorce laws can make their lives considerably less miserable.

Emotional Effects

Divorce under any circumstances is a painful affair. Then, if the laws drag it on to excruciating details, the effect is absolutely devastating. If the divorce is being caused through adultery, all three people involved have to stick around and cooperate to make it less bitter. In cases of amicable divorces, the partners are separating precisely because they have not been able to manage their differences. As the legal proceedings drag on and on, and they are forced to fill up mountains of forms, the very purpose of having a quick divorce in peace is defeated. For those wanting a way out from an abusive marriage, a long divorce only heightens the trauma, and many develop an insecurity syndrome for the rest of their lives.

Time and Money

The emotional effect is not all. Unless the divorce laws are eased up, people would be forced to spend money and time unnecessarily to find a way out of a prison-like existence. We shall discount the millionaires here, because most of the UK is not made up of them. It is not just a question of paying lawyers; a divorce involves a lot of time too. All those days that you missed office needs to be accounted for in terms of money and time. All the opportunities and promotions that you lost out on, all the quality leisure time that went in giving yourself a headache as you went through the documents again, count as loss. Maybe you will be leaving the house after divorce. As it takes longer to have it, you end up paying all the bills and taxes of all those extra months that you had not considered, and at the end of it, you have to hire a place anyway as you move out. The time you lose in the divorce process slows down the coping up period that comes after that.

Testimonial Hassles

Divorce is not as simple as it seems, nor as private. Those who have gone through the demeaning rigmarole of court testimonies know the strain it can cause to themselves and all those who are near to them. In case you are fighting it out, you would need to give testimonies at court yourself and ensure other ‘witnesses’ too. The pain and shame of having your most private moments discussed and dissected in public is terrible. But then, it is even worse when the people giving the testimony are your friends who are now forced to take sides, your neighbours who can regale the court with a spicy gossip, and your own children who are traumatised by the whole experience. In a bid to let go of a marriage that was not working out, you end up destroying several other relations, and losing the confidence and trust of your children.

Paying the Lawyers

Paying the lawyers is not an easy bid. Solicitors charge for their work at an hourly rate, and this includes all those hours you have spent on the phone discussing the case details with them. Even if you are going for an amicable divorce, you may need to consult them to get the complications concerning wills, child custody, finance management, property rights and pension sorted out.

Women and Divorce

This is a harsh world we live in, and if you are a lone woman trying to get out of a rotten marriage, it is going to get harsher. To top it all, usually women are bestowed with child custody, but so far the laws have failed to ensure regular maintenance payments and a comprehensive tracking system for defaulters. The laws will not help you when it comes to getting a job after a gap either.

Easier Laws

Easy, comprehensible and accessible laws that can grant fast, simple, and private divorces is the need of the day. This will make life less messy and more dignified.