H petitioned for divorce pursuant to section 2(1)(b) of the Divorce Reform Act 1969, which came into force on 1 January 1971. The husband’s case was that the wife had been unable to give him the demonstrative affection which he needed.
Held: Ormrod J dismissed the petition. He observed that Parliament had not yet assimilated the law relating to marriage with the law of partnership, which made different provisions both for dissolution and for the resolution of financial issues consequent upon it. He construed section 2(1)(b) as placing primary emphasis on the respondent’s behaviour rather than on the petitioner’s personal idiosyncrasies. He asked himself whether it was: ‘reasonable to expect this petitioner to put up with the behaviour of this respondent, bearing in mind the characters and the difficulties of each of them, trying to be fair to both of them, and expecting [of them] neither heroic virtue nor selfless abnegation . . ‘
Ormrod J
[1972] Fam 202
Divorce Reform Act 1969 2(1)(b)
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Owens v Owens SC 25-Jul-2018
W petitioned for divorce alleging that he ‘has behaved in such a way that [she] cannot reasonably be expected to live with [him]’. H defended, and the petition was rejected as inadequate in the behaviour alleged. She said that the section should be . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Updated: 09 August 2021; Ref: scu.666497 br>