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Magna Carta

June 15, 2015

It is 800 years to the day that the Magna Carta was sealed.  King John was surrounded on the battlefield at Runnymede by England’s most powerful barons who demanded royal recognition for certain liberties and legal procedures. 

 

Interestingly, although there is obviously no reference to divorce within the Magna Carta, there is reference to marriage.  It states that although heirs may be given in marriage, their next of kin must be informed and marriage must not be to someone ‘of a lower social standing’. 

 

The Magna Carta also provided for a widow to receive her inheritance ‘at once and without trouble’, but was permitted to remain in the home of her deceased husband for only 40 days.

 

How times have moved on in 800 years.  I imagine that had divorce been an option in those days, King John would be unimpressed with the Court’s current approach of applying a ‘yardstick of equality’ in cases involving the breakdown of a marriage. 

 

If you require any advice relating to the breakdown of a marriage or a relationship, please contact Elizabeth Hebden on 01756 700200 or eah@walkerfoster.com

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