Divorce
Dealing with a marriage breakdown and divorce can be difficult and stressful. The divorce process sometimes seems a very confusing and complex procedure.
The following information is designed to make it easier for you to understand the divorce process.
To commence divorce proceedings the marriage has to have irretrievably broken down and one of the five grounds for divorce must apply. The five grounds are;
- Adultery. One party has committed adultery and the other party finds it intolerable to live with that person
- Behaviour by one party which means that the other party cannot reasonably be expected to live with that person
- Desertion of one person by the other person for a period of 2 years
- Separation for 2 years and both parties agree to divorce
- Separation for 5 years
Once the grounds for a divorce have been established, the Petition will be drafted. The person who issues the Petition will be called the Petitioner and the other
party will be called the Respondent. The Petition will contain details of the parties and whether they have any children. If there are children a Statement of Arrangements
for children, form will also need to be completed. This form sets out details where the children live, their schooling and whether they have contact with the other parent.
The divorce papers will be sent to the Court for issuing. Once the Petition has been issued this will be sent to the Respondent with a form called an Acknowledgment of
Service and copy confirming that the Petition has been issued will also be sent to the Petitioner. The Respondent should return the Acknowledgement of Service form to
the Court within 8 days of the date of receiving the papers, however it is usual for the Respondent to be given more time to return the Acknowledgement of Service.
Once the Acknowledgement of Service has been filed with the Court, the Petitioner will make the application for the Decree Nisi (the first stage of the divorce). In order
to apply for the Decree Nisi the Petitioner will need to swear an affidavit ( which is simply a sworn statement which must be signed in front of a solicitor or an officer of
the court) to confirm the content of the Petition and it is then sent to the court. At this stage, the Petition is considered by the District Judge checking that all of the necessary
steps have been followed and that the Petitioner is entitled to a divorce. The judge will grant a certificate of entitlement to a decree and then fix a date for the pronouncement
of Decree Nisi. The Decree Nisi is pronounced in court on the date fixed however, neither party has to attend as the court will simply send the Decree Nisi to the parties in the post.
The final stage of the divorce is the Decree Absolute. The application for the Decree Absolute can be made by the Petitioner 6 weeks and one day after Decree Nisi. An application
form is sent to the Court for the Decree Absolute and will usually be granted within a few days.
If the Petitioner does not apply for the Decree Absolute the Respondent is allowed to make an application after a further 3 months has elapsed. If the Respondent does make the
application, the Petitioner will be notified of this and the Court will fix a hearing date. The court will usually grant an application by a Respondent unless there is good reason not to.
If there are outstanding, financial issues the Court will not grant the Decree Absolute until the financial arrangements have been resolved.
It is usual for the Petitioner not to apply for the Decree Absolute until the financial arrangements have been settled.
All in all the divorce process usually takes between 4 to 6 months. However, the procedure can take longer if there are financial matters and children’s matters to be resolved.
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