Carla & Peter: How to end a Coronation Street match made in hell

We’ve all seen, either the bride or groom wake up after the wedding and realise they hate the person they are sleeping next to and want a divorce. Ok, we might have only seen this on TV, but as always the scriptwriters could do with a few lessons in law.

It’s pretty clear that Carla and Peter on Coronation Street are heading in the direction of a marriage break up. However, what route will they take in the real world?

To divorce someone the marriage needs to have lasted at least a year. There is only one ground for divorce and that is that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. To rely on this ground you need to be able to prove one of the following facts:

1. Your husband/wife has committed adultery and you find it intolerable to live with him/her (please note that this is not applicable for civil partners);
2. Your husband/wife has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonable by expected to live with him/her;
3. You have been separated for at least 2 years and your husband/wife consents to the divorce;
4. You have been separated for at least 5 years or more (your husband/wife need not consent to the divorce); and
5. Your husband/wife deserted you at least 2 years ago.

Of course the major obstruction for Carla using this method would be that she would have to stay married to Peter for at least a year to be able to commence divorce proceedings; other than that she has the choice between either of the first 2 facts.

However, what about annulment?

There is no minimum of marriage length to apply for an annulment – looking promising Carla.

There are both void (whereby the marriage was not legally valid in the first place) reasons, eg:

• you are closely related;
• one of you was under 16; and
• one of you was already married or in a civil partnership.

Or voidable reasons:

• it wasn’t consummated;
• you didn’t properly consent to the marriage;
• the other person had a STD when you got married; and
• the woman was pregnant by another man at the time of marriage.

Unfortunately for Carla it would appear that she doesn’t satisfy the criteria for an annulment and therefore would have to wait for her one year anniversary. Hopefully she will not commit another faux pas and try and serve the proceedings on Peter herself.

For a free no obligation consultation on separation issues, please give the family team a call on 0113 320 5000.