A petition for divorce cannot be started until you have been married for at least a year. There is one ground for divorce and that is that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. In order for a court to grant a divorce this has to be shown. The way to do this is by giving evidence in writing of one of the five following reasons: adultery, unreasonable behavior, you have lived apart for at least two years and both consent or you have lived separately for at least five years in which case you do not require the other parties consent.
Presuming the spouse being divorced does not object the process is mainly administrative and will take approximately four to six months. In order to begin the process you are first required to file a petition in any county court or in the Principal Registry in London. The petition is done in a standard format which will include details of your marriage and any children and also the reason for divorce. This is then submitted along with any other supporting documentation and possibly a court fee.
In certain cases the court fee is wavered. If you are receiving: income support, income-based jobseekers allowance, state pension guarantee credit or working tax credit with no child tax credit element this may be the case. Other reasons include your income been below a specified level or that payment would involve undue hardship.
Having received the correct forms the court will then issue the petition and it will be sent to your spouse. You are now the petitioner and your spouse is the respondent. At this point the respondent has eight days in which to return acknowledgment from the day after he/she receives the petition. Should the respondent live outside England and Wales they will be allowed a longer time period in which to return the acknowledgment.
The acknowledgment of service form that the respondent returns provides information from your spouse and will confirm whether or not he/she intends to contest the divorce. You as the petitioner are now required to file an affidavit to cover any legal technical elements and a formal request for divorce, known as a request for directions for trail.
Should the respondent decide to contest the divorce they need to provide the court with a copy of the defence within 21 days should you not receive a copy of this within the time period you can still go on to apply for directions for trail. If you do receive a copy of the answer your solicitor will advise you on when you can apply for directions of trail.
A judge will then consider all the paperwork to see if the case is suitable for divorce, this is a formality if the respondent has not contested the divorce as it is rare that a divorce request be rejected. Should the judge decide your case is not in order it may just be that extra information be required, however if the judge feels he/she cannot make a decision from paper evidence a court hearing may be necessary. The judge will certify that the case can proceed to decree nisi once he/she is happy which is pronounced in open court in order to allow six weeks for anyone to put forward a reason why the divorce should not proceed. After the six weeks have passed you can apply for a decree absolute.
http://www.solicitalawyer.co.uk/
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