Cohabitation To Prevent Divorce

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30895, 30 October 1965, Page 15

Cohabitation To Prevent Divorce

(N.Z. Press Association —Copyright) CANBERRA, October 29. In a bid to encourage reconciliation, the Australian Government lias approved legislation which permits parties to resume cohabitation for a three-month trial period without destroying the grounds of a petition for divorce.

The Attorney-General, Mr B. Snedden, announced this decision when introducing amending divorce legislation into the House of Representatives today. As the law now stands the right to divorce can be destroyed by resumption of cohabitation, even if it takes place only in an unsuccessful attempt to bring about a true reconciliation. Mr Snedden told the House that significant success had been achieved in measures taken to assist reconciliation of married partners. This was a major object of the Matrimonial Causes Act now being amended. However, there was a i

serious legal difficulty in the way of reconciliation at the stage when divorce proceedings were being contemplated or had been begun. Along N.Z. Lines The bill proposed provisions < long the lines of recent legislation in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Mr Snedden said that parties would be permitted to resume cohabitation for a trial period, not exceeding three months, without destroying the grounds of a petition for divorce if reconciliation was not effected during the three months period. He said that once there was reconciliation during the three-month period the right to divorce would go.