A Divorce application needs to be drafted and sent to Court. Tozers can draft the Divorce application for you, and following your agreement, we can send it to the court along with your original marriage certificate and the Court’s fee which is currently £593. Filing of this application begins the court process in which your spouse will need to be involved.
Starting the Divorce process
Currently there are only two ways to legally end a marriage;
- No Fault Divorce - This is one of the biggest changes to divorce law in almost 50 years, outdating a lot of previous legislation. No Fault Divorce allows couples to divorce in an amicable manner, without the need for one spouse to blame the other. However, this also means that spouses will not be able to contest the divorce, apart from on grounds such as coercion and fraud. This change also applies to civil partnership dissolution.
- Divorce - With the intoroduction of No Fault Divorce there is now only one ground for divorce - irretrievable breakdown of the marriage, and you do not need to give reasons or place any blame.
We know that it’s not an easy thing to look at the options and work out which apply to your situation – but with our years’ of experience, we can sensitively talk these through with you and help to bring clarity to what you’re facing.
How we can help with your divorce
Tozers can draft the Divorce application for you, and following your agreement, we can send the Divorce application to the court along with your original marriage certificate and the Court’s fee which is currently £593.
Navigating the court divorce process
A copy of the application will be sent to your spouse who must return a form attached known as an Acknowledgement of Service. An Acknowledgment of Service is a form that proves to the Court that your spouse (the respondent) has received your documents.
Once sent by your spouse the Acknowledgment of Service form will be sent to us and we will then be able to prepare your Statement in Support (previously known as an affidavit) of the application which will be sent to the Court in order to apply for the Conditional Order.
A Conditional Order confirms that you are entitled to seek a divorce, ultimately that you have met all the procedural and legal requirements to obtain a divorce, and are therefore, entitled to bring the marriage to an end.
You will receive, through us, a Certificate of Entitlement to Conditional Order which will supply a date the Decree Nisi will be produced. There is no need for you to attend the hearing. Once pronounced by the court the Decree Nisi will set a date your marriage will officially end, unless a good reason not to grant the divorce is produced.
Once we have received the Conditional Order you must wait for six weeks and one day before you can apply for the Final Order. You may wish to do this straight away; however, we may advise you not to do this until financial issues have been resolved.
Either party can apply for Final Order, in order for your spouse to apply they will need to wait an additional three months to apply and will need to pay a fee to do so. Once you have received the Final Order the process is complete.
Steps to take after your divorce is finalised
- It is very important that you keep the original Final Order document safe, as you will need it in the future, for example you will need to produce it if you plan to remarry.
- We would recommend you keep some certified photocopies of the document too.
- We will suggest at the appropriate time, that you consider making a new Will and have colleagues to whom we can refer you to do this.
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Ready to make a start? We're here to help make the process as painless as possible. Contact us today by using our online enquiry form below, or call our specialist team on 03308 185600.