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ISSUES: Marriage
Chapter 2: Divorce
A guide to the divorce process in England
andWales
T
he divorce process in England
and Wales has five separate
steps, which can be completed
without instructing a solicitor and
spending over £1,000 on your divorce.
You will need to complete a D8 divorce
petition, which is the main document
in a divorce and then make two more
separate applications to the court
in order to complete the divorce
procedure.
It is possible to complete the UK
divorce process within three months –
we’ve had clients complete within 12–
14 weeks this year – but not everyone
can expect their divorce process to
be completed so quickly, with the
average divorce case taking 18–20
weeks to finalise.
Steps to the divorce procedure
in the UK
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Find a valid ground for divorce to
use
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File a D8 divorce petition with the
courts
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Apply for a decree nisi
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Apply for a decree absolute
Although there are only four steps
necessary to obtain a divorce, there are
parts of the divorce procedure where
your spouse needs to acknowledge
the divorce papers and respond to the
court.
We have put together some detailed
information on each step of the divorce
procedure in England and Wales so
that you understand exactly what is
involved before you apply for a divorce.
The stages of the divorce process
Step 1 – file divorce petition
A divorce petition (D8) is filed at
court setting out the ground for the
divorce with the court fee of £550.00 (If
applicable to you). The divorce petition
is the main document in any divorce
and is therefore essential that you
complete this document correctly.
Step 2 – acknowlegement of
service
The court will then send a copy of the
divorce petition form to your spouse
with an acknowledgement of service
form to complete and return. If your
spouse needs assistance in completing
the form to make sure it’s sent back to
the courts correctly, they should look at
a respondent in divorce service.
Step 3 – decree nisi
You can then apply for the Decree Nisi
(the first decree), which is a document
which states that the court cannot see
a reason why you can't divorce.
Step 4 – decree nisi pronounced
The court will issue a certificate telling
you when the decree nisi will be
pronounced in court.
Step 5 – application for decree
absolute
Six weeks after the decree nisi you can
then apply to make the decree nisi,
absolute (the final decree), which will
end your marriage.
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The above information is reprinted
with
kind
permission
from
Divorce-Online. Please visit www.
divorce-online.co.uk for further
information.
© Divorce-Online 2017
