With International Women’s Day having just been celebrated on the 8th March, is there gender inequality in Divorce?

It happens time and time again that one spouse will say to their solicitor “I worked really hard to meet the mortgage payments and build up my pension and all whilst my spouse never had to work.” So does this mean those assets shouldn’t be shared upon divorce? 

The way the Court looks at this is when you choose to marry, you choose to share and contributions to a marriage are not just financial. For example, one spouse might stay at home and look after a couple’s children enabling the other spouse to go to work and build the family’s wealth or provide for their future by building up a pension. The one who stayed at home does not have those opportunities.

So what if both spouses work full time but one of them is always the one to drop off and collect the child from child care and take days off when the child is poorly, should they receive more than the other spouse?

This might be particularly relevant currently with many parents having to juggle their careers with home schooling during lockdown. Is their contribution worth more?

Well the answer to this is likely to be no. The roles you assume within a marriage are decisions made as part of the family and as was explained in the High Court case of MA v SK [2015], a spouse is not to be discriminated against for the way in which the parties chose to organise their respective roles during the marriage.

So is there gender inequality in divorce?

No, it matters not which spouse takes on which role within the family, each case will be approached in the same way.

If you are considering separating from your partner and want to talk about your circumstances then please contact our Family Team on 01604 828282 / 01908 660966 or email Family@franklins-sols.co.uk.