Section 2 — Judicial separation: removal of factual grounds
This version in force from 2022-04-06
Snapshot: 2026-08-24
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .
(1) Section 17 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (judicial separation) is amended as follows.
(2) For subsection (1) substitute— (1) Either or both parties to a marriage may apply to the court for an order (a “judicial separation order”) which provides for the separation of the parties to the marriage. (1A) An application under subsection (1) must be accompanied by— (a) if the application is by one party to the marriage only, a statement by that person that they seek to be judicially separated from the other party to the marriage, or (b) if the application is by both parties to the marriage, a statement by them that they seek to be judicially separated from one another. (1B) The court dealing with an application under subsection (1) must make a judicial separation order.
(3) Omit subsection (2).
(4) In subsection (3)—
(a) for “judicial separation”, in both places, substitute “ a judicial separation order ”;
(b) for “divorce” substitute “ a divorce order ”.