2. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my spouse has stayed in mainland China to work for 2 years while I have lived in Hong Kong. Can I rely on the ground of two years’ separation to get a divorce?

2. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, my spouse has stayed in mainland China to work for 2 years while I have lived in Hong Kong. Can I rely on the ground of two years’ separation to get a divorce?

A husband and wife shall be treated as living apart unless they are living with each other in the same household. However, ‘household’ does not mean ‘house’, the mere fact that the spouses do not physically live together does not necessarily mean that they have separated. Both parties could recognise that their matrimonial relationship as continuing even though they are physically separated.

If due to some unpredictable event (such as COVID-19 pandemic requirements) the parties are separated in two cities, it is possible for the spouse to argue that the couple has not gone through a true separation, subject to further evidence of the circumstances and the view of the parties on whether the marriage is still subsisting.