No Fault Divorce

The new ‘no-fault’ divorce procedure went live on 6^th April 2022. This is a long-awaited update, which eliminates the need for either party to place blame on the other for the breakdown of the marriage. The aim is to reduce animosity between the parties and allow them to move forwards amicably.

 In addition, the change means there is no need to wait for two years or more, following a separation, to be able to apply for a divorce

Under the new procedure, an application can be made by one of the parties as a single application or by both parties as a joint application. The Applicant(s) will be asked to confirm that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. If a single application is made, the other party (the Respondent) will be asked to complete an ‘Acknowledgement of Service’ form, to confirm receipt of the divorce application

The Applicant(s) have to wait 20 weeks from the date that the Court issues the application before application can be made for the ‘Conditional Order’ (previously called Decree Nisi). Once the Conditional Order has been issued by the court, there is a further period of 6 weeks before the Applicant can obtain the Final Order of divorce (previously called Decree Absolute. It is, however, advisable to wait until financial matters have been resolved before applying for the Final Order.

. A Respondent can now only oppose the divorce if they do not believe the court has jurisdiction to deal with it, (i.e neither party has a connection with the UK), or with proof that the marriage/civil partnership was never valid or if the marriage/civil partnership has already legally ended.

If the Respondent does not complete the Acknowledgement of Service, the Applicant can instruct a Process Server to personally serve the application on the Respondent, to prove the Respondent knows about the Application and enable the Application to proceed.

In light of the simplified process, we have reduced our Fixed Fee and if you would like advice re divorce under the new procedure please call 0117 9299001 and ask for our Family Team