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Family Law Act 1996
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- 1996 c. 27
- Part II
- Court orders
- Section 3
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Prospective
3 Circumstances in which orders are made.E+W
(1)If an application for a divorce order or for a separation order is made to the court under this section by one or both of the parties to a marriage, the court shall make the order applied for if (but only if)—
(a)the marriage has broken down irretrievably;
(b)the requirements of section 8 about information meetings are satisfied;
(c)the requirements of section 9 about the parties’ arrangements for the future are satisfied; and
(d)the application has not been withdrawn.
(2)A divorce order may not be made if an order preventing divorce is in force under section 10.
(3)If the court is considering an application for a divorce order and an application for a separation order in respect of the same marriage it shall proceed as if it were considering only the application for a divorce order unless—
(a)an order preventing divorce is in force with respect to the marriage;
(b)the court makes an order preventing divorce; or
(c)section 7(6) or (13) applies.
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