grounds for divorce unreasonable behaviour

<p><a href="http://www.d-w-s.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/unreasonable-behaviour.jpg" title="unreasonable behaviour"><img alt="unreasonable behaviour" class="size-medium wp-image-2466 alignleft" decoding="async" src="http://www.d-w-s.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/unreasonable-behaviour-300x300.jpg"/></a>Last week we went through the legal matters regarding adultery and its part in the 5 grounds for divorce. This week we are going through unreasonable behaviour, so what is it?</p> <p>First of all unreasonable behaviour is the most commonly used ground for divorce, and a person is able to claim unreasonable behaviour when ‘the respondent has behaved in such a way that the petitioner cannot reasonably be expected to live with the respondent’</p> <p>What actually constitutes as unreasonable is all about interpretation, what you believe is unreasonable due to your boundaries and standards. In other words what one person believes to be unreasonable behaviour could be perfectly acceptable to another.</p> <p>Unreasonable behaviour can range from a serious incident to a cumulating of less serious incidents or behavioural patterns.   For example, a lack of emotional support, lack of support around the house, or with the children, or a disinterest in your career.</p> <p>If the respondent doesn’t with to contest the petition for unreasonable behaviour, proving the behaviour has taken place will not usually be necessary. However if the divorce is being defended it is up to the petitioner to provide evidence on the behaviour. Providing the evidence can be assisted by a family law solicitor, who can advise whether or not it is sufficient to convince a judge that the alleged behaviour has taken place.</p> <p>Many people believe that if their spouse does not consent the divorce then they have to wait till their spouse changes their mind. This is not true, if a petition of divorce is ignored the divorce can progress.</p> <p>Similarly to the ground of adultery, unreasonable behaviour has a time limit, if the respondent and petitioner have lived together for more than six months following the date of the last incident of unreasonable behaviour quoted in the petition will cause problems for this ground for divorce.</p> <p>In the last blog we discussed that same sex couples or if a spouse has engaged in sexual contact with someone of the same sex, then adultery cannot be used as a ground for divorce. However this can be used as evidence of unreasonable behaviour. Similarly if your partner is meeting someone else, but not to the sexual stage that is needed to use the grounds of adultery, you can use this as evidence as unreasonable behaviour also, this in a court would be referred to as an ‘inappropriate relationship’ and usually is considered sufficient grounds for divorce.</p> <p>Just because you have the grounds for divorce, don’t rush into this option, only if your relationship is truly beyond repair do we suggest looking up one of our family law solicitors, who can advise you of your options, the strength of your case and how we can help you.</p>