Matrimonial Causes Act 1950
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1950 c. 25 |
Matrimonial Causes Act , 1950
(14 Geo. 6) CHAPTER 25
An Act to consolidate certain enactments relating to matrimonial causes in the High Court in England and to declarations of legitimacy and of validity of marriage and of British nationality, with such corrections and improvements as may be authorised by the Consolidation of Enactments (Procedure) Act, 1949.
[28th July 1950]
Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Divorce and Nullity of Marriage
1 Grounds for petition for divorce.
(1) Subject to the provisions of the next following section, a petition for divorce may be presented to the court either by the husband or the wife on the ground that the respondent—
(a ) has since the celebration of the marriage committed adultery; or
(b ) has deserted the petitioner without cause for a period of at least three years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition; or
(c ) has since the celebration of the marriage treated the petitioner with cruelty; or
(d ) is incurably of unsound mind and has been continuously under care and treatment for a period of at least five years immediately preceding the presentation of the petition;
and by the wife on the ground that her husband has, since the celebration of the marriage, been guilty of rape, sodomy or bestiality.
(2) For the purposes of this section a person of unsound mind shall be deemed to be under care and treatment—
(a ) while he is detained in pursuance of any order or inquisition under the Lunacy and Mental Treatment Acts, 1890 to 1930, or of any order or warrant under the Army Act, the Air Force Act, the Naval Discipline Act, the Naval Enlistment Act, 1884, or the Yarmouth Naval Hospital Act, 1931, or is being detained as a Broadmoor patient or in pursuance of an order made under the Criminal Lunatics Act, 1884;
(b ) while he is detained in pursuance of any order or warrant for his detention or custody as a lunatic under the Lunacy (Scotland) Acts, 1857 to 1919;
(c ) while he is detained in pursuance of any order for his detention or treatment as a person of unsound mind or a person suffering from mental illness made under any law for the time being in force in Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or any of the Channel Islands (including any such law relating to criminal lunatics);
(d ) while he is receiving treatment as a voluntary patient under the Mental Treatment Act, 1930, or under any such law as is mentioned in paragraph (c ) of this subsection, being treatment which follows without any interval a period during which he was detained as mentioned in paragraph (a ), paragraph (b ) or paragraph (c ) of this subsection;
and not otherwise.
2 Restriction on petitions for divorce during first three years after marriage.
(1) No petition for divorce shall be presented to the court unless at the date of the presentation of the petition three years have passed since the date of the marriage:
Provided that a judge of the court may, upon application being made to him in accordance with rules of court, allow a petition to be presented before three years have passed on the ground that the case is one of exceptional hardship suffered by the petitioner or of exceptional depravity on the part of the respondent, but if it appears to the court at the hearing of the petition that the petitioner obtained leave to present the petition by any misrepresentation or concealment of the nature of the case, the court may, if it pronounces a decree nisi, do so subject to the condition that no application to make the decree absolute shall be made until after the expiration of three years from the date of the marriage, or may dismiss the petition, without prejudice to any petition which may be brought after the expiration of the said three years upon the same, or substantially the same, facts as those proved in support of the petition so dismissed.
(2) In determining any application under this section for leave to present a petition before the expiration of three years from the date of the marriage, the judge shall have regard to the interests of any children of the marriage and to the question whether there is reasonable probability of a reconciliation between the parties before the expiration of the said three years.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to prohibit the presentation of a petition based upon matters which have occurred before the expiration of three years from the date of the marriage.
(4) This section shall not apply in the case of marriages to which section one of the Matrimonial Causes (War Marriages) Act, 1944, applies (being certain marriages celebrated on or after the third day of September, nineteen hundred and thirty-nine, and before the first day of June, nineteen hundred and fifty).
3 Provision as to making adulterer co-respondent.
(1) On a petition for divorce presented by the husband on the ground of adultery or in the answer of a husband praying for divorce on the said ground, the petitioner or respondent, as the case may be, shall make the alleged adulterer a co-respondent unless he is excused by the court on special grounds from so doing.
(2) On a petition for divorce presented by the wife on the ground of adultery the court may, if it thinks fit, direct that the person with whom the husband is alleged to have committed adultery be made a respondent.
4 Duty of court on presentation of petition.
(1) On a petition for divorce it shall be the duty of the court to inquire, so far as it reasonably can, into the facts alleged and whether there has been any connivance or condonation on the part of the petitioner and whether any collusion exists between the parties, and also to inquire into any countercharge which is made against the petitioner.
(2) If the court is satisfied on the evidence that—
(a ) the case for the petition has been proved; and
(b ) where the ground of the petition is adultery, the petitioner has not in any manner been accessory to, or connived at, or condoned, the adultery, or, where the ground of the petition is cruelty, the petitioner has not in any manner condoned the cruelty; and
(c ) the petition is not presented or prosecuted in collusion with the respondent or either of the respondents;
the court shall pronounce a decree of divorce, but if the court is not satisfied with respect to any of the aforesaid matters, it shall dismiss the petition:
Provided that the court shall not be bound to pronounce a decree of divorce and may dismiss the petition if it finds that the petitioner has during the marriage been guilty of adultery or if, in the opinion of the court, the petitioner has been guilty—
(i) of unreasonable delay in presenting or prosecuting the petition; or
(ii) of cruelty towards the other party to the marriage; or
(iii) where the ground of the petition is adultery or cruelty, of having without reasonable excuse deserted, or having without reasonable excuse wilfully separated himself or herself from, the other party before the adultery or cruelty complained of; or
(iv) where the ground of the petition is adultery or unsoundness of mind or desertion, of such wilful neglect or misconduct as has conduced to the adultery or unsoundness of mind or desertion.
5 Dismissal of respondent or co-respondent from proceedings.
5. In any case in which, on the petition of a husband for divorce on the ground of adultery, the alleged adulterer is made a co-respondent or in which, on the petition of a wife for divorce on the ground of adultery, the person with whom the husband is alleged to have committed adultery is made a respondent, the court may, after the close of the evidence on the part of the petitioner, direct the co-respondent or the respondent, as the case may be, to be dismissed from the proceedings if the court is of opinion that there is not sufficient evidence against him or her.
6 Relief to respondent on petition for divorce.
6. If in any proceedings for divorce the respondent opposes the relief sought on the ground of the petitioner's adultery, cruelty or desertion, the court may give to the respondent the same relief to which he or she would have been entitled if he or she had presented a petition seeking such relief.
7 Divorce proceedings after grant of judicial separation or other relief.
(1) A person shall not be prevented from presenting a petition for divorce, or the court from pronouncing a decree of divorce, by reason only that the petitioner has at any time been granted a judicial separation or an order under the Summary Jurisdiction (Separation and Maintenance) Acts, 1895 to 1949, upon the same or substantially the same facts as those proved in support of the petition for divorce.
(2) On any such petition for divorce, the court may treat the decree of judicial separation or the said order as sufficient proof of the adultery, desertion, or other ground on which it was granted, but the court shall not pronounce a decree of divorce without receiving evidence from the petitioner.
(3) For the purposes of any such petition for divorce, a period of desertion immediately preceding the institution of...
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