Divorce Guide

Divorce Frequently Asked Questions

What are the grounds for divorce?

The only ground for divorce is that your marriage has irretrievably broken down. With the introduction of no-fault divorce proceedings, you no longer need to give reasons for your divorce, such as adultery or unreasonable behaviour.

I have received a divorce application. What should I do?

If you receive a divorce application the best thing to do is speak to a specialist divorce lawyer. They can guide you through the divorce and help you negotiate parenting arrangements for your children and a financial settlement.

What are the stages of a divorce in the UK?

Our divorce guide breaks no-fault divorce proceedings into five stages :

1. You apply for a divorce
2. There is a wait of 20 weeks – this is a mandatory wait imposed by law
3. After the 20-week wait you tell the court that you want to proceed with your divorce application
4. The court considers your divorce paperwork and makes a conditional order of divorce. The conditional order used to be called decree nisi of divorce
5. After a further six-week wait you apply for your final order of divorce. This used to be called the decree absolute of divorce

When you receive your final order of divorce you are no longer legally married to your husband or wife.

In no-fault divorce proceedings, you do not need to go to a court hearing to get divorced. Our divorce solicitors in London can help you with your divorce wherever you are based in England.

How long does a divorce take?

As there are court-imposed delays (the 20-week initial delay followed by a six-week delay between getting your conditional order of divorce and your final order ) a divorce takes about six months from the date you start divorce proceedings until you get your final order.

Although your divorce will take around six months to obtain you may be able to agree on the future parenting arrangements for your children or your financial settlement before you obtain your final divorce order. If your husband or wife is not willing to agree on child arrangements or a financial settlement it may take longer than six months to obtain a child arrangement order or financial court order from the court.

Our divorce lawyers can advise you on all the family law aspects of your separation and divorce. Our experts will try and help you reach an agreement on child custody, contact and financial settlement so you do not have the stress or expense of having to ask the court to make decisions on the future parenting arrangements for your children or on how assets should be divided up between you.

Should a husband or wife start the divorce proceedings?

In divorce proceedings, you can start the application, your spouse can do so or you can make a joint application to the divorce court.

As a general divorce guide, if you respond to a divorce application started by your husband or wife then it does not put you at a disadvantage if you subsequently have to ask the court to make a child arrangement order or a financial court order. However, there are reasons why you may prefer to start the divorce application:

• You are in control of progressing the divorce proceedings – your spouse may delay progressing the divorce application or applying for the final order
• You may need to apply for a financial court order urgently. For example, because you need spousal maintenance and your husband or wife will not pay it voluntarily or if you need to ask the court to make an injunction order to stop your spouse from transferring or selling off assets to reduce the amount that is available for the court to split between you
• If there is more than one country where divorce proceedings could be started. It may be in your best interests that the divorce proceedings be started in England. For example, in some overseas countries, the foreign court will award you a lower financial settlement than the one you could reasonably have hoped to achieve if divorce proceedings had been started in England allowing you to then apply for a financial court order in England

If you do not live in England can you get divorced in England?

Potentially you can get divorced in England even if you do not live in England.

There are complex divorce jurisdiction rules for starting divorce proceedings in England. That is why it is vital to take advice from our divorce solicitors in London if there is the possibility that you could start the divorce in more than one country. For example, there may be more than one potential jurisdiction if one of you lives abroad, has foreign or dual nationality or property or links overseas.

The decision on where to start the divorce proceedings can have a massive impact on the financial settlement. It therefore pays to get the best specialist divorce advice before your husband or wife starts divorce proceedings in a jurisdiction that does not favour you.

If you are not a British citizen, can you get divorced in England?

Divorce proceedings can be started in England if one or both spouses are not British citizens.

Whether you can get divorced in England depends on a legal concept called habitual residence. It is sensible to take expert legal advice from a top London divorce solicitor on whether it is in your interests to start English no-fault divorce proceedings and the timing of any divorce application. This is important as the decisions you make about starting divorce proceedings could affect the amount of your financial settlement, your immigration status and any current or future immigration applications.

We cannot agree on a financial settlement so can we still get divorced?

You can get divorced even if you have not reached a financial settlement and decided on things such as:

• Who will get the family home?
• Should pensions be shared?
• Will spousal maintenance be paid and for how long?
• Should there be a clean break final order?

In some cases, the best advice from London divorce solicitors is to delay finalising the divorce proceedings until you have a financial settlement because of the potential financial prejudice of completing your divorce proceedings without a financial agreement or court order.

As the personal and financial circumstances of every family are different it is important to get specialist advice before the divorce proceedings are completed.

Can we get divorced if custody of the children is not agreed?

If a couple cannot agree on child custody or contact then either one of them can apply to court for a child arrangements order. The application can be made before, during or after the no-fault divorce proceedings are completed.

Our divorce solicitors in London can offer guidance on how best to reach an agreement over where your children will live or if there will be shared parenting or contact arrangements.

What happens financially when you get divorced?

When you divorce the court does not a financial order dividing your assets unless you either:

• Jointly ask the court to make an agreed financial consent order or
• One of you makes an application for a financial court order because you are not able to reach a financial settlement

Divorce solicitors can help you reach a financial settlement through solicitor negotiations or by providing legal support during family mediation. Our specialists can then help prepare the paperwork to obtain your agreed financial consent order. If you cannot reach an agreement, we can represent you by making or responding to a financial application.

How many years does it take to financially recover from divorce?

There is no getting away from the fact that a divorce can affect your finances as you will be splitting your assets with your husband or wife and creating two homes, though the financial court order will not necessarily involve an equal split of all the family assets.

It is difficult to generalise how long it takes to financially recover from a divorce as so much depends on your situation. After a short marriage, you may come out of the relationship in a better financial position than you went into it. After a long marriage, it may take time to rebuild your finances.

Our divorce solicitors will help you reach a financial settlement by negotiation to reduce the risks and expense of the protracted court proceedings so you can rebuild your life.

Get in touch with our divorce solicitors today

For divorce advice, you can see us at our offices, make a phone appointment or speak to us online via Web Conferencing such as Zoom or Skype. To get the expert legal advice you need, contact our divorce solicitors in London.