Family Courts Act 2024

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Amendment of Act of 1989

78. The Act of 1989 is amended—

(a) in section 2—

(i) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (1):

“(1A) A joint application by both spouses for a decree of judicial separation from one another may be made to the court having jurisdiction to hear and determine proceedings under Part III of this Act on one or both of the following grounds:

(a) subject to subsection (2), that the spouses have lived apart from one another for a continuous period of at least one year immediately preceding the date of the application;

(b) that the marriage has broken down to the extent that the court is satisfied in all the circumstances that a normal marital relationship has not existed between the spouses for a period of at least one year immediately preceding the date of the application.”,

and

(ii) in subsection (2)—

(I) by the substitution of “subsection (1) or (1A)” for “subsection (1)”,

(II) in paragraph (a), by the substitution of “subsection (1)” for “that subsection”, and

(III) in paragraph (b), by the substitution of “paragraph (d) of subsection (1) or paragraph (a) of subsection (1A)” for “paragraph (d) of that subsection”,

(b) in section 3(1), by the substitution of “the applicant or, in the case of a joint application, any of the grounds referred to in subsection (1A) of that section which have been relied on by the applicants,” for “the applicant”,

(c) by the insertion of the following section after section 5:

“Safeguards to ensure awareness of alternatives to separation proceedings where application made jointly by both spouses and to assist attempts at reconciliation

5A. In the case of a joint application referred to in section 2(1A), the requirements imposed on a solicitor for the applicant under section 5 shall apply to the solicitor for each applicant.”,

(d) in section 8(2), by the substitution of “the applicant and the respondent or, in the case of a joint application referred to in section 2(1A), the applicants,” for “the applicant and the respondent” in both places where it occurs,

(e) by the deletion of section 30,

(f) in section 31—

(i) by the deletion of subsection (1),

(ii) in subsection (2), by the substitution of “the Family District Court, the Family Circuit Court and the Family High Court shall concurrently have” for “the Circuit Family Court shall, concurrently with the High Court, have”,

(iii) by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) Subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024 and subsection (3B), the Family District Court shall not have jurisdiction in proceedings under this Act for a decree of judicial separation where the market value of any land to which the proceedings relate exceeds €1 million.”,

(iv) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (3):

“(3A) Subject to section 67 of the Family Courts Act 2024 and subsection (3B), where proceedings are brought in the Family District Court under this Act for a decree of judicial separation and the court is of the view, on the basis of the evidence before it, that the market value of the land to which the proceedings relate exceeds €1 million, the court shall transfer the proceedings to the Family Circuit Court, but any order made (including an interim order) or act done in the course of such proceedings before such transfer shall be valid unless discharged or varied by order of the Family Circuit Court.

(3B) The Minister for Justice may by order increase the amount referred to in subsections (3) and (3A) up to a maximum amount of €2 million where he or she considers it appropriate to do so having regard to—

(a) changes in the market value of land,

(b) the need to minimise the costs of proceedings, and

(c) the guiding principles in section 8 of the Family Courts Act 2024.

(3C) Every order made by the Minister for Justice under subsection (3B) shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the order is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House sits after the order is laid before it, the order shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”,

and

(v) in subsection (5), by the substitution of “shall be exercised by the judge of the Family Circuit Court circuit or Family District Court district” for “shall, in the Circuit Family Court, be exercised by the judge of the circuit”,

(g) by the deletion of sections 32 and 33,

(h) in section 44(1), by the substitution of “the applicant or, in the case of a joint application referred to in section 2(1A), the applicants” for “the applicant”, and

(i) by the deletion of section 45.