To get a UK divorce you must have been married for more than one year. Problems tend to arise when documents are completed incorrectly or there is disagreement between the parties involved. We will complete all the paperwork on your behalf, provide advice and guidance at each of the steps and where necessary handle communication with your spouse and the solicitors on the other side of your case.
The stages of a divorce
The formal divorce process has a number of steps.
1. Deciding the reasons for divorce
To divorce, you’ll need to prove to the court the reasons why you want your marriage to end. These are known as ‘facts’ and ‘grounds’ for divorce. It will speed things up if your spouse agrees with the reasons that you want to use.
2. Filing a divorce petition
One of you will need to apply to court for a divorce (the applicant). You do this by filling in and sending a ‘divorce petition’ to a court.
3. Service of the Application
The Court checks the documentation and if satisfied officially ‘issues’ the divorce application and sends it to the Respondent, together with any Statement of Arrangements and an Acknowledgement of Service form for the Respondent to complete and return to the Court.
5. Acknowledging Service of the Application.
The Respondent is required to return the form to the Court within 7 days, indicating whether or not they wish to dispute the divorce proceedings. If they do want to dispute it they have to file another form called an ‘Answer’ within 28 days of receiving the Application.
6. Confirming the Facts in your Application
The Court will send a copy of the Acknowledgement of Service form to the Applicant, who must then swear an Affidavit confirming the facts in the original Application and return it to the court.
7. Applying for a ‘decree nisi’
If you’ve sent your divorce petition to court and your spouse has told the court they agree, you can move to the next stage. This is applying for a ‘decree nisi’ – a document that says the court sees no reason why you can’t divorce.
8. Getting a decree absolute
The ‘decree absolute’ is the document that legally ends your marriage. If you started the divorce, you can apply for a ‘decree absolute’ six weeks after the court issues the decree nisi. If your spouse started the divorce you can apply for a ‘decree absolute’ after an additional three months. Once you have the decree absolute, you are officially divorced.
