Women’s Charter 1961 · s 95A
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Open the official texts 95AWhat constitutes the irretrievable breakdown of a marriage
For the purposes of this Act, a marriage between X and Y is taken to have irretrievably broken down if and only if —
X has committed adultery and Y finds it intolerable to live with X;
X has behaved in such a way that Y cannot reasonably be expected to live with X;
X has deserted Y for a continuous period of 2 or more years immediately before the application for divorce;
X and Y —
have lived apart for a continuous period of 3 or more years immediately before the application for divorce; and
consent to a divorce being granted by the court;
X and Y have lived apart for a continuous period of 4 or more years immediately before the application for divorce; or
subject to subsection (6)(c), X and Y agree that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.
For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) —
if Y continues to live together with X for a total of 6 months or less despite knowing that X has committed an act of adultery, the fact that Y continued to live with X must be ignored in deciding whether Y finds it intolerable to live with X; and
if Y continues to live together with X for more than 6 months despite knowing that X has committed an act of adultery, Y may not rely on that act of adultery.
For the purposes of subsection (1)(b), if Y continues to live together with X for a total of 6 months or less after the most recent instance of the relevant behaviour by X, the fact that Y continued to live together with X must be ignored in deciding whether Y can reasonably be expected to live with X.
For the purposes of subsection (1)(c) —
a period of desertion is still taken to be continuous even if X and Y lived together for a total of 6 months or less during that period; but(b)the period during which X and Y lived together does not count towards the length of the period of desertion.
For the purposes of subsection (1)(d) and (e) —
a period of living apart is still taken to be continuous even if X and Y lived together for a total of 6 months or less during that period; but(b)the period during which X and Y lived together does not count towards the length of the period of living apart.
For the purposes of subsection (1)(f) —
an agreement must be in writing and must state the following matters:
the reasons leading X and Y to conclude that their marriage has irretrievably broken down;
the efforts X and Y have made to reconcile;
the consideration X and Y have given to the arrangements to be made in relation to their financial affairs and any child of the marriage;
the court must consider the stated matters in deciding whether to exercise its powers under Divisions 3 and 4 of Part 10A (amicable settlement of disputes); and
the court must not accept the agreement if it considers, in all the circumstances of the case, that there remains a reasonable possibility that X and Y might reconcile.
In this section, “live together” means live together in the same household.