Divorce Solicitors

The sole ground for establishing that you are entitled to a divorce is that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.

In order to establish this, there are five facts, one of which must be relied upon, namely:

• Adultery
• Unreasonable Behaviour
• Desertion
• Two years separation with consent
• Five years separation

The same procedure applies, whichever fact you choose to reply upon.

The process is started by one party “the Petitioner” filing a petition for divorce with the court based on the fact they seek to rely upon.  The Court serves other the party “the Respondent” with a copy of the petition. The Respondent must reply to the petition within 8 days of receipt of the document.  The response is completed by filing an acknowledgement of service with the court.  The acknowledgement filed by the Respondent sets out whether they agree to the grounds for the divorce or if it is their intention to defend the proceedings.

The acknowledgement of service is then sent to the petitioner or their solicitors. The next step in the process is for the Petitioner to complete and sign a statement in support of the petition confirming that the contents of the petition are true which accompanies an Application for Decree Nisi .  The purpose of this application is to request that the petition is considered based on the paper application submitted with no need for either party to attend at court in person.

Following receipt of the Application for Decree Nisi, the District Judge will consider the papers and grant a certificate confirming that the parties are entitled to a conditional decree, known as a Decree Nisi.  At this stage a date is allocated for the pronouncement of the Decree Nisi. There is generally no need for either party to attend court on the allocated pronouncement date, unless there is any dispute such as who is to be responsible for meeting the costs of the divorce, if this has not already been agreed in advance.

The Petitioner may apply for the final decree, the Decree Absolute, six weeks and one day following the pronouncement of the Decree Nisi. However, we regularly advise our clients not to apply for the Decree Absolute until any outstanding financial issues have been resolved.

The divorce process generally takes between six and eight months from the point of issue to the final decree.

Meeting the costs of divorce:

The Petitioner may include in the petition a claim for the respondent to pay the legal costs and court fees incurred in relation to the divorce. Orders are not common and parties are encouraged to agree the costs position before the acknowledgement of service is filed. This may involve one party meeting the other’s costs or costs being shared between the parties. If the position in relation to costs cannot be agreed, it may be necessary to attend court before the District Judge for the Judge to make a decision in relation to costs.

Problems with service of the petition:

In the event that a Respondent fails to file an acknowledgement of service, the Petitioner needs to establish that service has been effected. There are various ways of achieving this including Bailiff Service by arranging for the Respondent to be personally served or Substituted/Deemed Service, which involves establishing that there is evidence that the Respondent has received the paperwork but is choosing or neglecting to return the acknowledgement of service or is deliberately ignore the proceedings.

If the whereabouts of the Respondent is completely unknown it is possible to make an application to dispense with service of the Petition, although this application would be granted only in rare circumstances.

Defended proceedings:
On rare occasions the Respondent may defend the petition. If this happens a hearing will be listed by the court for the District Judge to consider how to progress the proceedings, which will ultimately lead to the court deciding whether the Petitioner should be entitled to a divorce based on the information in his or her petition.

If you have decided that your marriage or civil partnership has broken down and your husband/wife or civil partner co-operates with the divorce process a member of our specialist team can deal with the divorce proceedings on your behalf.

We will hold a meeting with you to advise you about the process, advise you of the documents and information we need from you, draft the application to start the divorce, liaise with your husband/wife or their solicitor before starting the divorce and send the papers to the Court. We will prepare further documents to progress the divorce when the Acknowledgment of Service has been received. We will advise you of the date for Decree Nisi and apply for Decree Absolute on your behalf.

Where divorce proceedings are started by your husband/wife, or your civil partner, you may wish to receive advice and support throughout those proceedings.

A member of our specialist team can meet with you, take your instructions and advise you about the court process. We can check the court documents and consider whether your husband/wife is seeking to claim costs from you within the proceedings and advise you about the consequences of any costs claim. We will complete the acknowledgement form on your behalf and liaise with the Court and your husband/wife’s solicitors throughout the matter. We will check and send to you the decree nisi and decree absolute.

Divorce or dissolution proceedings will bring your marriage or civil partnership to an end but will not resolve your financial claims against each other. Future potential financial claims remain open unless they are formally dismissed by the Court.

Where there is no property or finances to resolve or you have already agreed how to divide your assets and you wish to prevent your husband/wife or partner from having financial claims against you in the future we recommend that you obtain a Clean Break Order.

A member of our specialist team can advise you of the implications of a Clean Break Order and the procedure to obtain one. We can prepare an application for a Clean Break Consent Order and summary of your finances, ask your husband/wife or partner to complete their financial summary and file the documents with the Court. We will send you the final Clean break Order.

Divorce or dissolution proceedings will bring your marriage or civil partnership to an end but will not resolve your financial claims against each other. Future potential financial claims remain open unless they are formally dismissed by the Court.

Where there are assets, property or pensions to resolve within the divorce proceedings and you have already agreed about how to divide those assets and you wish to prevent your husband/wife or partner from financial claims against you in the future you may wish to obtain a clean break order.

A member of our specialist team can advise you of the implications of a Clean Break Order and the procedure to obtain one.  We can prepare an application for a Clean Break Order and summary of your finances, ask your husband/wife or partner to complete their financial summary and file the documents with the Court.  We will send you the final Clean Break Order.

Unfortunately, it is not always possible for separating couples to reach agreement about how to divide their assets.

One of the most difficult aspects of a divorce is resolving the ownership of the family home, dividing savings and pensions and the payment of maintenance. This is often the most complicated part of the divorce process.

Where agreement cannot be reached the Court has wide powers to make orders about the family assets including maintenance, property, lump sum and pension sharing orders.

An order of the court can only be made following the Decree Nisi having been pronounced by the court and the terms of an order can only take effect following the pronouncement of the Decree Absolute. An order can be made following negotiations between Solicitors or at Court by agreement and is known as a “Consent Order”. If agreement cannot be reached an order can be made by the Court after a contested hearing.

We will meet with you at the beginning of your case to explore ways to try to settle your matter and we can negotiate on your behalf with your husband/wife or their solicitor. We can discuss your options which can include negotiations between Solicitors Mediation, and Collaborative Law before deciding whether to make an application to Court.

We will help you to deal with your financial disclosure on a voluntary basiswhich is often provided on the standard Court form called a Form E. The Form E is a financial statement which sets out all of your relevant financial information. If it is not possible to agree to provide voluntary disclosure or if negotiations do not lead to an agreed settlement, then your matter is likely to have to proceed through the Court.

Court proceedings are started by either spouse making an application for Financial Remedy with the Court. This is an application asking the court to consider both yours and your husband/wife’s or Civil Partner’s financial positions. Filing the application starts off a standard court process. After 16 weeks a First Directions Appointment (FDA) is listed. Prior to the first hearing, there is provision of the filing and exchange of the court financial disclosure Form E and there is also provision for the filing of additional supporting documentation which we can advise you upon and prepare on your behalf.

At the First Directions Appointment the court will give directions about the progression of your case, which may involve obtaining experts reports, such as a Surveyor to value the family home, or for an Actuary to report upon division of pension funds. It is likely that each party will have asked questions about the other’s Form E and the court will direct for responses to those questionnaires to be filed.

The Court will list the application for a further hearing known as a “Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing” (FDR). This hearing is listed with the intention of being able to settle matter in the hope of avoiding a final hearing, when the Judge will have to decide the outcome. At the Financial Dispute Resolution hearing, both parties summarise the most important aspects of their case to the Judge and set out their offers of settlement. The Judge should then give a view about settlement and will encourage the parties to enter into further negotiations at court.

If settlement cannot be achieved the application will be determined by the Judge at a final hearing. Both parties will give evidence at this hearing and the Judge will make a decision about how the assets are to be divided between the parties.

Settlement is encouraged throughout this Court process. If agreement can be reached a Consent Order can be drawn up and filed at any time during the court proceedings.

If settlement can be reached, this is a much more cost-effective way of resolving matters. However, there are some circumstances in which settlement cannot be achieved and, if this is the case, we will advise and support you throughout each step.