Belief in sanctity of marriage not relevant to Appeal Court

In Mulcahy v Castles Solicitors [2013] EWCA Civ 1686 Jane Mulcahy, a devout Roman Catholic who believed strongly in the sanctity of marriage, claimed that her lawyers had failed her in not advising that a divorce would bring her marriage to an end and that they should have recommended judicial separation instead of full divorce.

In rejecting her claims the Court said “Much the most striking of Mrs. Mulcahy’s many allegations of negligence against her solicitors was that, having regard to her Roman Catholic faith, Mrs. Boots had failed to give her the advice which was requisite in view of her firmly held belief in the sanctity of marriage. This was either in terms of the alternative of judicial separation, or about the impossibility of pursuing divorce proceedings to a clean break settlement, without thereby inevitably bringing about the final termination of her marriage, which she wished to avoid”. Her appeal was dismissed.

At Miles & Partners we believe in considering every aspect of a case when formulating advice to our clients. Our specialist solicitors will go through all the options available to you before recommending any course of action. If you wish to speak to us about relationship breakdown contact us now by calling us on 020 7426 0400 to speak to one of our specialist solicitors.

The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this article was published. Readers should not act on the basis of the information included and should take appropriate professional advice upon their own particular circumstances.