Parents seeking a divorce in Denmark are now required to take a mandatory course and wait three months before they can separate.

The Danish Parliament agreed in March to implement a mandatory “reflection period” of three months and require parents who have children 18 years old and younger to take an online course before a divorce can be finalized.

The course is called ‘Co-operation After Divorce’ and enables parents to consider the ramifications of a relationship split, particularly through the eyes of their children, and explains how to communicate after divorce.

“The digital course answers some of the most fundamental questions that you are left with during a divorce,” Mai Mercado, Denmark’s Ministry of Children and Social Security, told the Paris-based news agency Agence France-Presse.

Approximately 30pc of children do not live with both of their parents, compared to just 15pc in 1980, according to Statistics Denmark. Until the adoption of this new policy, Danes have been able to obtain what is called a “mutually consensual” divorce speedily, by simply filling out an online form and requiring no judge nor waiting period.