...is not through her stomach if a recent case is to be
believed. An Egyptian woman has sought a divorce from her
husband (a chef) on the grounds that his culinary skills have
outshone her own. Mohammed Said found himself in hot water
with his wife when he took it upon himself to prepare an evening
meal for the family. Perhaps more to her annoyance, the
parties' children enjoyed the meal so much that they no longer
wished her to cook for them. In another case it was reported
that a woman sought divorce from her husband due to the fact that
he had not showered since they married (a period of eight
weeks).
Whilst it may not be possible to raise an action of divorce in
Scotland simply on the basis that your once beloved spouse has
become the next Gordon Ramsay, the fact that (s)he has failed to
apply the principles of basic hygiene might well be an example of
"unreasonable behaviour" which, if deemed reasonably bad enough by
the offended spouse, may be used to apply to the court for a
divorce.
In terms of the Divorce (Scotland) Act 1976 as amended by later
legislation the two grounds for divorce in Scotland are that the
marriage has broken down irretrievably or that an interim gender
recognition certificate has been issued to either spouse after the
date of marriage. The irretrievable breakdown of the marriage
must be based upon one of the following:
1) Adultery;
2) Unreasonable behaviour;
3) One years' non cohabitation with the consent of both
spouses; or
4) Two years' non cohabitation where one spouse does not
consent.
Many divorces in
Scotland proceed on the basis of the parties having been
separated for one or two years. This is generally deemed to
be the more straightforward approach. However, adultery and
unreasonable behaviour may be used to seek divorce more quickly
which can be advantageous where one party is being uncooperative in
negotiations. Any examples of unreasonable behaviour require
to be supported by an independent third party, so if your spouse
starts to invite friends to the house to sample your cooking or
measures the level of your shower gel each morning perhaps it is
time to take note.