The law states that "The court will only grant you a divorce if a judge agrees that your marriage is at an end." The legal term for this is 'irretrievably broken down'. Below are the five reasons which you can use to claim that your marriage is beyond repair.
The basic structure of divorce?
The divorce process is highly structured and is best navigated with the help of a good solicitor. If it's absolutely straight forward then you could do it without but you do need to get things right and it's not that easy. For a straight forward divorce online is a good choice.
Step 1
Filing the Divorce Petition?
This is the request to the court to start your divorce. It contains details of both of you and the reasons for divorce - one of the five grounds for divorce we have defined. The person applying for the divorce is the Petitioner. The other spouse is the Respondent. If there is a third party they are the co-respondent. If there are children then a Statement of Arrangements needs to be submitted which defines the agreed living and contact arrangements for the children after the divorce. This is sent to the Court.
Step 2
Service of the Petition?
The Court checks all these documents and if they are satisfied that they complies with all the requirements they ‘issue' the divorce petition and send it to the Respondent, with any Statement of Arrangements and a form for the Respondent to complete and return to the Court. This is (rather bizarrely) known as the Acknowledgement of Service.
Step 3
Acknowledging Service of the Petition?
The Respondent needs to return the form to the Court within 7 days, indicating whether or not they wish to dispute the divorce proceedings. The reality is that there is no point in defending a divorce petition, it is rarely successful and always makes the divorce more expensive.
Step 4
Confirmation of the Facts in your Petition?
The Court will send the Acknowledgement of Service form to the Petitioner who must then swear an affidavit confirming the facts in the original Petition. Here lies a big moral dilemma, if you are petitioning on the grounds of ‘unreasonable behaviour' then are you prepared to swear to something which may not be totally true? Only you can decide that. The affidavit is sent to the Court with the signed Acknowledgement of Service.
Step 5
Pronouncement of Decree Nisi?
If the Court is satisfied with all the documentation they will set a date on which the Decree Nisi will be granted. It is not usually necessary for the parties to attend Court to hear this being pronounced, unless there are some outstanding issues. Now the divorce process is nearly complete.
Step 6
Application for the Decree Absolute?
Six weeks and 1 day after the Decree Nisi is pronounced the Petitioner can apply for the Decree Absolute. There is a standard application form and a Court fee to be paid. Once this has been granted and sealed by the court you are officially divorced. Now it's over and the challenges of your new life after divorce can begin
Written by Kirstie Law Solicitor, Collaborative Lawyer and Mediator
at Thomson Snell & Passmore. Visit www.ts-p.co.uk for further information.
