Family Law Act 2019

Certain parts of the Family Law Act 2019 have recently been signed into effect by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan. Parts I & II of the Act came into effect on the 1st of December 2019 and this has the effect of reducing the minimum living apart period required previously which stated that a married couple had to live apart for four years during the previous five years and this has now thankfully been reduced to a living apart requirement of two years during the previous three years.

The 2019 Act will provide a huge relief to many couples who are going through the Family Law Courts as the 2019 Act provides that proceedings currently before the Courts can be converted from a judicial separation application to a divorce application.

The 2019 Act also addresses the recognition of divorces, legal separations and marriage annulments granted in other foreign jurisdictions and in particular in the UK or Gibraltar. This is of particular interest in the current climate of Brexit and it addresses the circumstances where if there is no provision made for the recognition of marriage annulments, divorces, or legal separations in the UK or Gibraltar on the withdrawal of the UK from the EU. This part of the Act is prescribed in Part III and has not yet been signed into law.

The 2019 Act also provides explicit provisions that in determining whether spouses or civil partners who live in the same dwelling have been living apart for the purposes of divorce, judicial separation and dissolution proceedings wherein a Court will consider that the spouses or civil partners have lived apart if they do not live together as couple in an intimate and committed relationship. This is a welcome change as, as practitioners, we are well aware that couples while they may be living under the same roof, are not together in a committed and intimate relationship and that the marriage has ended even though the couple are still living together.

The amendment to the living apart period is a huge relief for couples and practitioners alike as it will make the barrier to divorce much less burdensome and will reduce the stress of the whole process.