Divorce

What are criteria for starting divorce proceedings in England and Wales?

When you and/or your spouse decides that your marriage is over and there are no other options for you than a divorce, Simple Law solicitors are here to assist you.

What are criteria for starting divorce proceedings in England and Wales?

You must have been married for at least one year before divorce proceedings can be started.

Further, you must meet at least one of the jurisdictional criteria, which are based on the habitual residence or domicile of you or both you and your spouse:

• Habitual residence is a difficult term to define but is usually means a country where someone lives most of the time and where they have their „centre of interests”.
• Domicile is also a difficult term to define, but generally, a person is domiciled in a country if they consider their permanent home is there, even though they live in another country.

Who can make an application for divorce?

An application for divorce can be made by you only (a sole application) or by you and your spouse together (a joint application).

If the application is a sole application, the person who starts the divorce proceedings is known as the applicant and the other spouse is known as the respondent.

If the application is a joint application, you and your spouse together are called „the applicants” and there is no respondent. However, an application started as a joint application can be changed to a sole application if you or your spouse decides that you no longer wish to pursue divorce proceedings or refuses to progress the proceedings.

What are the grounds for divorce proceedings in England and Wales?

Following the changes in law in April 2022, there is only one ground for divorce, which is that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.

How does the divorce procedure work in England and Wales?

The divorce procedure differs depending whether it is a sole application procedure or a joint application procedure.

Sole application procedure in England and Wales

First, your sole application needs to be finalised in accordance with your instructions. Then it is submitted online to the court together with relevant documents and a court fee, which is currently £593. Afterwards, the court will issue the application with a case number and it will start the divorce proceedings. The issued application and other documents produced by the court are then served on your spouse. They are served within 28 days after the application is issued by the court. Your spouse should then send a document called the acknowledgment of service to the court within 14 days, in which your spouse acknowledges receipt of the application. It is possible for your spouse to dispute the divorce, but disputed proceedings are very rare nowadays.

if your spouse is not disputing the proceedings, 20 weeks after the divorce application was issued you can apply for the first stage of the two-part divorce order, called the conditional order. In the application for the conditional order, you must confirm that you wish to proceed with the divorce. You also need to confirm whether everything in the divorce application remains unchanged. Simple Law will assist you with it.

Once six weeks and one day have passed from the day the conditional order was made, you can apply for the final divorce order. This brings your marriage to an end, and you are then formally divorced.

Joint application procedure in England and Wales

We need to prepare a draft joint application for you and your spouse. When it is ready, we will contact your spouse or solicitors instructed on their behalf and agree its contents. Then we will submit it through the court’s online divorce system and your spouse or or solicitors instructed on their behalf will receive an email notification from the court to check over the application and complete your spouse’s part of the application.

When the application is accepted by the Court, you and your spouse must each separately acknowledge receipt of the notice of proceedings within 14 days. Simple Law will do this for you.

20 weeks after the divorce application was issued, you and your spouse can apply for the first stage of the two-part divorce order, called the conditional order. In the application for the conditional order, you must each confirm that you wish to proceed with the divorce, and whether everything in the divorce application remains unchanged.

Once six weeks have passed from the day the conditional order was made, you and your spouse can apply for the final divorce order. This brings your marriage to an end, and you are then formally divorced.

When can you apply for for a final divorce order?

However, in most cases, you should not apply for the final divorce order until any application for financial orders has been resolved.

Are the divorce proceedings in England and Wales straightforward?

The divorce proceedings in England and Wales seem to be straightforward. In some cases they are, but during our Court practice, we learned that there may be problems with service of divorce application upon the other side, which can make complicate and prolong divorce proceedings.

At Simple Law, we are here to help you with the whole process of divorce, which can be quite traumatic if not dealt with properly.

If you want to discuss your divorce matter with us, please contact us via email: [email protected] or on 01905 700002 or