Section 19 Matrimonial Causes Act 1970

Section 19 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1970 is about Refusal to resume cohabitation. It provides as follows:

(1) Where husband and wife are parties to an agreement for separation, whether oral, in writing or constituted by conduct, the refusal by one of them, without reasonable justification, to comply with the other’s bona fide request to resume cohabitation shall constitute, as from the date of the refusal, wilful desertion without just cause or excuse on the part of the party so refusing.

(2) For the purposes of this section, “reasonable justification” means justification that is reasonable in all the circumstances, including the conduct of the other party to the marriage since the marriage, whether that conduct took place before or after the agreement for separation.