Divorce
Whilst the circumstances of each marital breakdown are different, the basic procedure for bringing a marriage to an end in the UK is relatively straightforward. The following points are designed to give you an overview of such proceedings.
For cases involving nullity, judicial separation or foreign marriages, specialist legal advice is required.
In divorce proceedings, the person who asks the court for a divorce is called the Petitioner. The person being divorced is called the Respondent.
The Criteria for Divorce
• In order to obtain a divorce, a couple have to have been married in a legal marriage ceremony, here or abroad. Proceedings to divorce can be brought in the UK providing at least one of the parties is domiciled or habitually resident here
• The parties have to have been married for a minimum of 12 months
• The marriage must have broken down irretrievably
The Grounds for Divorce
• Irretrievable breakdown of the marriage must be proved by basing a divorce petition on one of 5 facts:
o Adultery (the other spouse having had sexual intercourse during marriage with a member of the opposite sex)
o Unreasonable behaviour (a spouse has behaved so unreasonably that the other cannot be expected to go on living with them)
o 2 years of living separate and apart, providing the other spouse consents
o 5 years of living separate and apart (the other spouse’s consent is not required)
o desertion for a period of 2 years prior to the petition being issued
The Procedure
• If you are petitioning for divorce, we will meet with you to discuss the funding for such proceedings and will ascertain whether you could claim Legal Aid from the Legal Services Commission. We will then prepare a draft divorce petition and a form about the arrangements for any children of the marriage for you to approve. Sometimes, it is appropriate to send a draft to your spouse for them to consider before lodging the papers at court.
• We will then file your divorce papers at court along with your marriage certificate, a form about the children and the necessary court fee and the court would serve a copy upon your spouse. Your spouse is asked to complete an Acknowledgement of Service form within 7 days, indicating whether or not they intend to contest the divorce.
• If your spouse decides to contest the divorce, you will need specialist advice from us.
• If your spouse does not file the Acknowledgement of Service, we will give advice on the options available to you; a court application to prove that they have been served is customary.
• When the Acknowledgement of Service has been filed, we will prepare an Affidavit of Support on your behalf which confirms the details in the divorce petition and which we file at court once you have signed it. The court will then review the papers and providing the judge is content, he will then certify that you are entitled to a divorce. He can also make orders about the children at this stage if he has any concerns about their welfare.
• Approximately 6 to 7 weeks after issuing the petition, the court will pronounce Decree Nisi (the mid-way point of the proceedings). It will also decide if the Respondent should contribute towards your legal costs for the divorce. If a financial settlement has been reached, a consent order setting out the agreement can be sent to court at this stage for the judge to approve.
• Six weeks and 1 day after Decree Nisi, the Petitioner can apply for the final decree of divorce – Decree Absolute. This ends the marriage. The Respondent can apply for the Decree Absolute 3 months after the 6 week period, if the Petitioner unreasonably delays. You
