Discussion Topic:

Carl and Gail have been married for eight (8) years. They jointly own a three-bedroomed house worth 450,000. They have one child, Julia aged seven (7).

Gail gave up her successful job as a successful accountant to look after Julia. Carl works as a successful lawyer and earns 250,000 a year. The couple also own a cottage that Gail inherited from her mother before she and Carl met but she rents this cottage out to pay for Julia's school fees.

In the last two (2) years Carl and Gail's relationship has changed in that Carl decides everything for Gail; from what sheis allowed towear to what she can do and to whom she can talk. Gail loves Carl and wants to please him. She tries very hard, but Carl always finds fault and punishes her. He is often violent to Gail, pushing her down the stairs, hitting her, and on one occasion he broke her arm: she never reported it to anyone, as she was very embarrassed.

In recent weeks Carl has become even angrier and has taken his frustration out on Julia ona number ofoccasions, shaking her violently. Gail cannot afford to move out as Carl controls the spending of the household income and she wants to stay with Julia in the house. Gail has had enough and wants to divorce Carl in the long term and wants him out of the house, so that she and Julia can live in peace.

To taunt her one night, Carl comes home drunk and starts banging on the bedroom door. When Gail threatens him with the police, he shouts that he will come back later and 'finish them all off.' Gail is now extremely frightened. She wants the violence to stop immediately and then to divorce Carl, but she is worried that the court will award himall ofthe marital property and as she has no job,she is worried that her and Julia will be left destitute.

In the light of the above consider the following for discussion:

1. Advise Gail on how family law can assist her in the short term with regards to Carl's violence and threats against her and their daughter, Julia.

2. If Gail chooses to divorce Carlon the basis oftheir marriage having irretrievably broken down due to his unreasonable behaviour, how might the court redistribute the marital property?

Response post:

This discussion forum focuses on Gail, who is a victim of domestic violence, and her daughter Julia. Gail requires advice on what options are available to her to provide her and Julia with immediate protections for the behaviours and actions of her husband, Carl. It is therefore necessary to consider domestic violence and abuse and divorce to advise Gail on what options are available to her.

Throughout the forum, it will be necessary to define domestic violence and abuse and to consider who can be a victim; however, at this early stage, it is important to note Section 1 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 which provides that domestic abuse can include physical or sexual abuse, threatening behaviour and coercive control, or economic, psychological or emotional abuse between any relative, intimate partners or spouse or civil partner over the age of 16.[1]

It is also important to consider divorce, which is only possible when a marriage has broken down and is irretrievable. Buffery v Buffery held that one of five facts must be demonstrated when a marriage has irretrievably broken down in order for divorce to be possible.[2] Whilst Section 1 of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 has removed the need to establish a fact, a marriage must still be irretrievably broken down in order to divorce and end the marriage.[3]

It is interesting to consider recent reforms of the law on divorce in the context of domestic abuse. Kaganas suggested that mediation and the focus on attempting to restore a broken marriage is often not appropriate for spouses in an abusive relationship and that couples in this situation must be able to divorce quickly in order to protect victims.[4]

Does the now reformed law on divorce increase or decrease the protections available to Julia?

[1] Domestic Abuse Act 2021, 1(2)

[2] Buffery v Buffery [1988] 2 FLR 365 (CA)

[3] Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, s1(1)

[4] Felicity Kaganas, 'Domestic abuse and divorce mediation' (1994) 16 Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 265

Respond to the above response post using OSCOLA referencing for the primary and secondary sources.