Owens (Appellant) v Owens (Respondent)

[2018] UKSC 41 UKSC 2017/0077 Owens (Appellant) v Owens (Respondent) On appeal from the Court of Appeal Civil Division (England and Wales) The parties were married in 1978 and separated in February 2015. The appellant's wife filed a petition for divorce in May 2015 contending that the marriage had irretrievably broken down. The petition was based on the respondent husband’s behaviour, which the wife argued meant she could not reasonably be expected to live with him within the meaning of s 1(2)(b) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, and she gave particulars of incidents, which included occasions where the husband was alleged to have made disparaging or hurtful remarks to her in front of third parties. The husband defended the case and argued at the trial that the examples given of his behaviour were not such as to satisfy the requirements of s 1(2)(b). The judge agreed and dismissed the petition. The issue is: the interpretation of section 1(2)(b) Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The Supreme Court unanimously dismisses the appeal.