DIVORCE is an emotive issue. According to the Office of National Statistics, 42% of all marriages end in divorce.

The current laws in our country, some dating right back to the times of Queen Victoria, need updating. The law needs to catch up and not leave particularly women disadvantaged.

Currently, divorce is granted for wrongdoing but for those who wish to divorce their husbands or wives amicably and move on with their lives, there is no option.

The problem is down to the legal system in England and Wales not operating under a no-fault divorce principle. Countries like Australia do.

This means that the divorce courts need to recognise someone being at fault to grant a divorce.

The most common reason is unreasonable behaviour with, in 2016, 36% of husbands and 51% of wives petitioning on this basis.

The country has seen, in a rare case, when a divorce is contested by the other party.

The case of Hugh and Tini Owens is desperately sad one that is still yet to resolve itself after the Supreme Court ruled against the right of Tini being granted a divorce due to her current husband’s refusal to admit fault.

I had a constituent write to me regarding this matter. How there was no reason to dislike her husband but they wanted different lives. They had little in common. Happiness had gone but there was no malice or anger.

I am opposed to the current adversarial settlement as it is confrontational or a ‘blaming’ process and often involves young children. Like other countries, we should look to a positive outcome to what can be a distressing process, especially for children.

The law really does have to reform the laws or accepted practices of marriage. I had a constituent whose husband had borrowed £thousands in her name from the bank and as joint holders, she became liable for 50% of the debts she was unaware of. Following that and other matters, she was divorced but the bank was threatening repossession of her new home.

The bottom line is they wrote to them as a couple, one letter which he opened and hid from her. She had been denied as a woman access to ongoing financial affairs that had accumulated £33,000 of personal debt now attributed to her as spouse.

Banks may have a bad name but following my intervention, they accepted there was a gender and marriage issue and they bore responsibility. The amount was written off.

These two cases highlight the failings of marriage law, marriage conventions and why its time for a rethink.