I want a divorce, now what do I do?

The first thing you have to do is fill in a form called a ‘petition for divorce’, you can get one of these from the HM Courts Service website, your solicitor and some stationers. Once you have filled it in and explained on the form the reasons why you want a divorce, you then have to take it to a divorce county court or to the Principal Registry of the Family Division in London.

You have to be married for one year before you can start divorce proceedings.

You will only be granted a divorce if a judge agrees your marriage is at an end. To do this you will have to show proof of one or more of the following: unreasonable behaviour, adultery, desertion for a period of at least two years, two years separation if you both agree to the divorce, five year separation if there is no agreement to the divorce. The legal term for ‘marriage is at an end’ is ‘irretrievably broken down’.

Once you have handed your petition to the divorce county court you have legally started divorce proceedings, you are now ‘the petitioner’ and your partner ‘the respondent’.

If you have children you will need to give full details and the name and address of any person whom your spouse committed adultery with, if you wish to name then in the divorce proceedings as grounds of divorce. They will be known as the co-respondent.

Your husband and any co-respondents will be sent a copy of the petition from the courts, this is known as ‘serving the petition’. Your spouse will then have 8 days to acknowledge receipt of the petition; if he doesn’t then a court official also known as a bailiff will serve the petition in person.

The next stage after the petition has been served all depends on the case and if your spouse contests or agrees to it. You will probably have to provide more information to the court. If there are children involved then the court will need to see and agree with the arrangements made for the children before the divorce is granted.

Once this has been agreed the next stage is the most important and is called ‘the Decree Nisi’. This is only granted once the judge has seen all papers and is happy that there are proper grounds for divorce. All relevant arrangements with finance issues and children would need to have been agreed or be in the process of. You may need to go to court but in many cases divorces can happen entirely by post.

The Decree Absolute is the final stage of the divorce, which can be applied for six weeks and one day after the Decree Nisi. If you don’t apply for the Decree Absolute then your spouse as the respondent can do, but will have to wait a further three months.

Once you have received the Decree Absolute, you are no longer married and free to re-marry.

Although you do not need a solicitor, you may need legal advice if you are not sure if you have ground for divorce, some couples get divorced without consulting a solicitor at all. If you have children involved or your spouse does not agree to the divorce you should seek legal advice. If you wanted free advice, The Citizens Advice Bureau can help you, and they can also help you find a solicitor if you need one.

The Citizens Advice Bureau can help you fill in the necessary forms, and can help you find a solicitor, if you need one.