BASINGSTOKE'S MP is calling for guidance around divorce to be updated after a resident experienced 'prolonged financial abuse' due to 'drawn-out' legal proceedings.

Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday, March 11, during Departmental Questions MP Luke Murphy asked the government to commit to updating guidance to 'properly consider the impacts of domestic abuse'.

He explained: "One of my constituents has endured prolonged financial abuse due to drawn-out divorce financial order proceedings which largely ignore domestic abuse, except in rare cases.

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MP Luke MurphyMP Luke Murphy (Image: House of Commons)

"Would the minister commit to reviewing financial settlement proceedings guidance to ensure that they properly consider the impacts of domestic abuse and prevent the legal system from being used as a tool of continued coercion and control?"

The question comes after the Law Commission published a report in December 2024 calling for the government to work on reforming the guidance for financial remedies for divorce.

The commission said that it identified 'particular issues' in relation to the treatment of domestic abuse under the law, including controlling or coercive behaviour and economic abuse.

In its scoping report, it explained that the law currently suggests personal misconduct, including abuse, will only be relevant where it is 'gross and obvious'.

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The commission is calling for more clarity on the forms of behaviour that will be considered personal misconduct and the impact it will have on a claim for financial remedies.

That current guidance means that survivors of abuse can suffer 'poor financial outcomes' following divorce.

In response, MP Alex Davies-Jones, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, thanked Mr Murphy for the question adding: "My thoughts are with his constituent as she navigates this difficulty.

"The government will carefully consider the Law Commission's 2024 report on financial provision on divorce."

She added that the report specifically looked at the issue of domestic abuse.

The MP continued: "The government will also be consulting later this year on delivery of our manifesto commitment to strength the rights and protections of co-habiting couples because all abuse is abuse; financial or otherwise."