It’s the final countdown!

If you need expert legal help with your divorce, contact the experienced divorce lawyers at Kells.

A weekly question asked by clients, family and friends, is “When does the divorce clock start ticking?” This can often be ‘blurred lines’ when dealing with separation under one roof. 

The Court, in determining if the parties have been separated for a period of 12 months, looks at the individual circumstances of the separation.

To prove you have been separated under one roof would usually require the circumstances of your separation to be set out in an affidavit and (often) supported by an affidavit from an independent witness, such as a friend or a family member. The test is whether the consortium vitae (a fancy Latin way of describing the life or essence of the married relationship) ended and when.

Parties may continue providing domestic assistance to each other, such as cooking meals or doing washing, and there are even some cases where parties have been found to have separated even though they maintained a sexual relationship!

As a general rule, if you have separated your banking, moved into separate rooms and told people that your relationship is over, you are getting to the position you need to be in to convince a Court that you have been separated whilst living under one roof.