Frequently Asked Divorce Questions

The process usually takes between 3 to 4 months to complete.

Court Fees are obligatory to any Divorce in England and Wales and are on top of any legal costs incurred. A Solicitor will add these costs to their own fees. The Court Fees are £340 (payable at the Petition stage) and £45 (at the Divorce Absolute stage), however, your financial situation may mean that you do not have to pay these Fees. This requires that you complete the following form(EX160 Fee Remittance Form) and apply to the Court so that they can assess whether you qualify.

We are an online specialist and therefore don't have to pass on overheads to our customers.

You must have been married for at least a year before you can petition for a Divorce.

No court appearances are necessary in Divorce proceedings.

The only grounds for a Divorce is that the marriage has Irretrievably broken down. This can be proven using one or more of the following:

• Adultery;
• 2 years separation with consent to the Divorce by the Respondent;
• Unreasonable behaviour;
• Desertion;
• 5 years of separation.

No. Your Spouse will have to initiate the Divorce proceedings.

Yes you can.

Yes, provided you can show that you now live separate lives within the home (i.e. sleep in separate bedrooms, split the bills, eat and socialise separately).

No you do not, they will be given the opportunity to consent within the acknowledgement of service form that is sent from the Court.

Yes it will need to be sent along with your Divorce Petition. If you are unable to find this, a certified copy can be provided by the relevant Registry Office for a small fee.

You will need to have it translated and sworn by an expert who should then provide a statement. This should then be sent along with the normal Divorce petition documents, including the original Marriage Certificate.

No, as long as the Marriage Certificate is not in a different language as the Certificate will then need to be translated.

No, provided one or both of you habitually reside in England/Wales.

No, as long as you have lived in England/Wales for at least 1 year.

You should try to find this by friends or family or by using the services of a tracing agent.

You can find you local County Court by using the Free Court Search Finder.

We aim to despatch your completed documents the same day (provided the questionnaire is completed before 4pm Monday to Friday) and your documents will be sent to you by First Class post.

If your spouse does not return the Acknowledgement of Service to the Court then you would need to make a request to the Court for the Court Bailiff to personally serve the Divorce documents on the Respondent. The Bailiff will then make a sworn Affidavit confirming that this has taken place. We can provide you with the necessary documents to make this request for FREE if it is required.

The Respondent then has 29 days to file a defence. If the Respondent still does not respond then you can apply for the Decree Nisi.

No agreement is required, however, it is recommended to agree these issues before initiating the Divorce. If you do not agree financial matters between you, your former spouse can bring claims against you after the divorce and may even be able to make a claim against your estate in the event of your death. It is therefore wise to reach an agreement over financial matters and have that agreement incorporated into a Consent Order.

As with financial issues, you do not have to agree everything regarding the children but it is a good idea to do so. To proceed with your divorce you must satisfy the court that the arrangements for the children are the best that can be achieved in the circumstances. This is done by the Petitioner completing a Statement for Arrangements for Children form setting out their proposals for the arrangements of the children and is provided within our Divorce packages if it is required.

If no agreement can be reached then an order can be sought from the Court, however they are reluctant to grant such orders unless absolutely necessary.

After 6 weeks and 1 day after the Decree Nisi has been made you can apply for it to be made absolute.

The respondent can apply for the Decree Absolute 3 months after it has been granted and the parties have not reconciled.

If you have requested your documents to be sent to you be email then they are sent automatically once payment has been received. If you cannot find the email containing the documents then you may need to check that it has not been placed into junk email by your email provider.

We use Sage Pay to ensure that the credit/debit card information belonging to our customers is secure. Sage Pay is the UK's largest online payment provider.

You can post your Divorce Petition to your chosen County Court along with a cheque made payable to HMCTS for £300.

You can select any County Court within England and Wales to begin your Divorce proceedings.