Divorce

You are only able to petition the court for a divorce if you have been married for at least one year and only on the ground that your marriage has broken down irretrievably. In order to prove that irretrievable breakdown, you must be able to rely on one of the five following facts:

• Adultery (by the Respondent)
• Unreasonable behaviour (by the Respondent)
• Desertion by the Respondent for at least two years
• Two years separation and you both agree to the divorce proceeding
• Five years separation.

The spouse who applies for the divorce is called the Petitioner.

Once it has been decided upon which fact you are going to rely, the Divorce Petition is drafted. This document will recite the details of your marriage, your personal details and details of any children. If you do have children, then a further document, the Statement of Arrangements, will also need to be completed. These documents, along with your original marriage certificate, or certified copy if this is not available, are sent to the court with a fee. The court will then officially register that you are applying for a divorce, by is suing the papers. The court will then send to your spouse, the Respondent. a complete set of papers together with a questionnaire known as the Acknowledgement of Service.

The Respondent is asked to complete the Acknowledgement of Service, one of the questions being are they going to defend the proceedings. The Respondent is required to return the form to the court within 14 days. The procedure from this point will differ depending upon whether or not the Respondent has indicated they intend to defend. We can guide you through this situation and advise accordingly. However, if the Respondent is not to defend, then once the court has forwarded the Acknowledgement of Service to us, we are then able to progress matters and apply for your decree nisi. This is the procedure whereby you formally ask the court to recognise that you are entitled to a divorce. We will prepare a short Affidavit, which you will need to swear which then goes to the court along with a formal application.

In due course, we will receive a date when your decree nisi will be pronounced in court. There is usually no need for you or the Respondent to attend at court as this procedure is a formality.

You are able to apply for the final decree, that is the Decree Absolute, one week and one day from the date when your decree nisi was pronounced. Whether or not you actually do so after that time will depend upon the advise of your Solicitor. If you have financial matters to resolve between you and your spouse, then you will probably be advised to wait before applying for the final decree.