Divorce FAQ

Anyone who has been married for at least a year, provided one spouse is either domiciled here or has been resident in England or Wales during the preceding six months. It does not matter where the couple were married.

No. The divorce process has been simplified so is accessible to all via the Government website. That said, it is advisable to obtain legal advice about the implications of divorce before making the application, specifically regarding its financial consequences for you, impact on any Will and property and concerning child arrangements.

This is the process by which you can dissolve your marriage. No fault simply means that divorce is now based on a simple statement being made by a spouse as part of the application, that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. There is no longer any need to explain why. The process begins online using the Government portal. There is a Court fee payable of £612 when you make the application. The application can be made jointly by a couple, or by one spouse only. You should take legal advice about which is the best approach for you.

Financial Remedy is the name given to financial claims arising from divorce. How finances are shared depends very much on the individual circumstances of each case. It is therefore essential that you take legal advice on your claims for income, capital, and pensions from a specialist matrimonial solicitor.

It depends. As with financial remedy, this is entirely dependent on the circumstances of each case. In certain circumstances, a family home can be retained by one spouse, in others it is sold and the associated proceeds share, not necessarily equally. A specialist matrimonial solicitor can advise you for the most likely outcome in your specific situation.

Child arrangements are left to parents to decide, unless there is a dispute about certain aspects relating to the children, such as caring arrangements, relocation, name changes, education, or medical treatment. Courts recognise that it is generally better for parents to agree arrangements for their children, so they will not interfere unless it is not possible for parents to agree what should happen. In the event of a dispute, parents should be encouraged to consider various non-court dispute options to obtain assistance to try and resolve the issues and only if those options are not appropriate, or not successful, should an application be made to the Court to ask a Judge to determine them.

Where one party fails to co-operate in providing financial disclosure, certain steps can be taken to obtain information about their financial situation, or a Court can be asked to make an Order compelling them to provide the required documents. If one spouse continues to fail to engage and comply with the Judge’s requirements, a Court can then be invited to make a final financial order in favour of the co-operating party only and in some cases, may also order the uncooperative spouse to pay the other spouse’s legal costs.

Yes. Divorce no longer requires co-operation of both spouses. A sole application can be made and if the other spouse fails to engage with the divorce, after a period of time has elapsed and subject to proof that the other spouse has been notified of the divorce, the Court will allow the applicant to proceed on their own.

The breakdown is proved with a simple requirement to provide a statement of irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. This is the ‘No Fault’ divorce that came into effect 6 April 2022. There is no requirement to provide more details.

Every application follows the same form. It contains basic information about names and addresses of the parties, details taken from the marriage certificate and a statement that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. Most applications will be made online and, in some circumstances, they can be made on a paper form.

There is a Court fee of £612. Your additional legal fees for the divorce will depend on how much assistance you need with that process. We will provide you with a costs estimate at the outset of our instruction.

It is common place to begin the divorce and simultaneously address associated financial issues.  This is primarily because a Conditional Order in the divorce process is required to obtain a fully concluded financial settlement. In many cases, to avoid potential prejudice, the parties will agree to delay obtaining the Final Divorce Order until financial matters have been concluded.

This is a document produced by the Court. At the top it will have details of the parties, the case number allocated by the Court and, the name of the Court dealing with the divorce. A statement will be included in the document that says the marriage: has broken down irretrievably. It will state the date that the Applicant can apply for the Final Divorce Order which will be no less than six weeks from the date of the Conditional Order. There will also be a note on the conditional order that confirms this is not the final order. You are not divorced until the final divorce order is made.

If an Acknowledgement of Service is not returned, we can advise you how to progress the case without requiring the co-operation of the other party.

This document is produced by the Court. As with the Conditional Order it contains details of the case and the parties. The document will contain a statement that says that the marriage has legally ended. There will be notes on the document relating to effects on inheritance under a will and the appointment of a guardian.