Grounds for a Divorce

You can only get a divorce if you can show that your marriage “has broken down irretrievably”. To do that you must prove you marriage is beyond repair for one of the following 5 reasons:-

• Your partner’s adultery. You cannot rely on this ground for a divorce if you have lived together for more than 6 months after discovering the latest act of adultery – please note that this 6 month period can be made up of shorter periods of co-habitation totalling 6 months.
• Your partner’s unreasonable behaviour.
• You have not seen your partner for 2 years or more.
• You have been separated from your partner for at least 2 years and they agree to the divorce. Separation does not necessarily mean that husband and wife must live in separate houses. It is possible to live in the same house and enjoy completely separate lives although, the Court sometimes looks very carefully at this.
• You have been separated from your partner for at least 5 years.

The Divorce Process

You cannot get a divorce unless you have been married for at least a year. The person applying for the divorce is known as the ‘Petitioner’ and the person they are divorcing is the ‘Respondent’.

• We strongly advise that where possible, divorce is dealt with in as friendly a fashion as possible. Therefore, depending, of course, on your wishes we often suggest starting the whole divorce procedure by writing to your spouse telling them you are planning to start the divorce. Often we can agree grounds for divorce at this stage which helps taking the heat out of the situation. In getting legal advice make sure you contact a specialist divorce Solicitor.
• The first document to be completed is the Divorce ‘Petition’ which needs to be sent to the Divorce County Court. The Divorce Petition contains basic details of you, your partner, your marriage, any children and the grounds on which the divorce is based. It is accompanied by the original Marriage Certificate and a Court Fee (currently £300 but which may not need to be paid if you are on a low income) and if there are children under the age of  18, a separate form setting out proposed arrangements for your children.
• The County Court sends the Divorce  Petition to your partner who should complete and return a form sent by the Court indicating whether or not they intend to consent to the divorce. Contested divorces are very rare these days.
• Our divorce solicitors will then prepare for you a sworn Statement in support of your Divorce Petition and apply for what is known as Decree Nisi. To make the Decree Nisi (in effect a provisional divorce) the Court must be satisfied that you are entitled to a divorce. At this stage the Court will also consider arrangements for your children to ensure  there are clear and proper plans for who the children will live with, where they are educated and any plans for contact with the parent they are not going to live with. At Decree Nisi stage the Court will also decide who should pay the legal costs of the divorce if you and your partner have not agreed who should pay.
• 6 weeks and a day after Decree Nisi you can apply for the Decree to be made Absolute which legally ends the marriage. Often, however, our divorce solicitors will advise that it is better to wait until all financial matters have been settled before finalising the divorce by way of Decree Absolute. There is a fee for Decree Absolute of £40.00.
• Unless, in exceptional cases, the divorce is contested or the Court is unhappy about any information they have received, there should be no reason for you to attend Court at any stage.
• Although, every case varies and often the Decree Absolute can be delayed further to allow for financial matters to be sorted out, an average straightforward divorce takes on average between 4 and 5 months from the beginning to Decree Absolute.
• Your Will – our divorce solicitors strongly recommend that you amend your Will once your divorce has gone through. After Decree Absolute any arrangement in your Will for your former spouse to receive property or to be appointed by your Will as an Executor is invalid. So you may  wish to ensure you know who will receive your property if you  die and to ensure you make proper provision for your nearest and dearest. Your divorce solicitor can pass your details to one of our experienced Wills Solicitors. 

For  further legal advice, contact an expert divorce law solicitor at our Salsibury, Andover or Amesbury offices today.