My wife/husband and I have separated: should I wait to divorce after 2 year's separation or should I start things off now?

Jo Spain, family law solicitor

This partly depends on whether any of the other reasons for divorce apply now. If you have not been separated for two years then the only way you can divorce earlier is by reason of the other person's adultery or their unreasonable behaviour.

Adultery still counts if it occurred after you separated or beforehand (with some conditions), so if you separated for other reasons and then one of you starts another relationship (or has a one night stand!) then the other person can cite adultery as a reason for the breakdown of the marriage.

Unreasonable behaviour can be mild through to extreme. Quite often both parties to a marriage which has broken down can cite the other person's unreasonable behaviour.

If you do decide to wait for two year's then you need to be sure that the other person will consent. If not you cannot proceed on this basis and would have to either wait for a further three years or use adultery or unreasonable behaviour.

You also need to consider whether you wish to have a legally binding Court Order setting out the financial settlement. This can only happen within a divorce not during the time you are simply separated.