Once you have decided to divorce the process is actually very simple indeed. All you need to do is log on to the Government Portal and follow the simple steps. You will need to be able to upload a copy of your Marriage Certificate. If one of you has changed their name by Deed Poll you will also need that. There is a current filing fee of £628 to pay.
You can either take this step yourself or you can file your divorce application jointly with your soon to be former spouse. This option is particularly helpful if you and your former spouse are in a good place and you believe that you will be able to continue to work together. If you have some concerns, it may be better to file a sole application for divorce (just you filing the application) as it means that you will not necessarily need the other parties assistance in progressing your divorce application to the end of the process.
Handily, the law was changed on 6 April 2022 and divorce applications are no longer fault based. The fact that you have decided to divorce is, as a rule, sufficient.
Remember, all a divorce application does is get you to the point where your marriage is dissolved. You and your former spouse may still be financially tied and you also need to have a formal Order of the court dealing with your finances. Whilst the divorce process itself can easily be undertaken by you, it is best to have advice from a solicitor in relation to the financial aspects of your case.
Of course, we can help you with both the divorce and the finances if that is your preference.
What is a “No-Fault” Divorce?
After much pressure from the family law profession, on 6 April 2022 the law was changed to remove the idea of “fault” in a divorce application.
This was a much welcome and much needed change to the law. It used to be that if you were the Petitioner in the divorce – no matter what the relationship between you and your former spouse – someone needed to be at fault and the most commonly used grounds for a divorce were: –
- Adultery
- Unreasonable Behaviour
- 2 years’ separation with consent
- 5 years separation without consent; and
- Desertion
Parties wishing to divorce without waiting (and waiting had potentially nasty tax consequences) were forced to set out in a court document the reasons the marriage ended. At a time when emotions were high and this was all very new and fresh to parties; this step was deeply unwelcome and aggravating. An unreasonable behaviour petition, even if agreed between the solicitors pursuant to the then Family Law Protocol, was nonetheless an inflammatory point and fault based petitions set the parties on a path of antagonism at a time when they least needed it.
No fault divorce means just that. Parties can divorce without setting out to the court (or indeed anyone) why their marriage came to an end. This keeps the reasons for the divorce private and means the parties can focus on the more important issues in their relationship breakdown, being the division of time with the children and how to best deal with the family finances, without having to publicly “wash dirty linen”.
This new law had the benefit of making the process considerably cheaper. Fault based petitions often required negotiation between solicitors, legal drafting, and, sometimes, cross-petitions or defences to petitions when one party was inflamed by the others particulars of divorce. Significant cost could be generated at a time when both parties had already accepted that the marriage was at an end.
So, no fault divorce not only saves parties money, it also dispenses with needless antagonism whilst at the same time providing privacy at a very sad moment in parties’ lives.
What Happens When One Person Doesn’t Want a Divorce?
Whilst it takes two people to agree to get married, it only takes on party to decide to legally divorce.
The no fault provisions make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the party who wishes to remain married, to stall the divorce process. In the fault based days, a party could defend the petition or cross-petition and could tie the process in knots. No fault petitions has meant that this ability has disappeared.
Simply put, one party cannot force the other to stay married to them.
The Myth of the ‘Quickie Divorce’
You will have seen online or read in the papers about the so called “quickie divorce.” It is actually a media nonsense which gets trotted out routinely (mainly because it makes a story more exciting). It is a click bait headline.
The reasons for a “quickie divorce” are historical. Two divorce processes ago (if I may put it like that) the process was slow, cumbersome and very time consuming. It was not easy to get a divorce at all.
This was altered and a new streamlined process was put into place. It made things very much easier and shorter. That said, even on a good day, it takes 4 months or so to divorce; nonetheless, this new process became known as the “quickie divorce.”
The media leapt on this idea of a “quickie divorce” and used (and still use) that term when discussing celebrity divorces to make it seem like celebs were getting something you were not: when the reality was that every single person in this country uses the same process and, in fact, everyone who was getting divorced enjoyed the benefits of a “quickie divorce.”
The only real drawback of the new “non-fault” process is the timeframe for the divorce process remains unaltered. Again, this has historic roots. The conservative elements within Parliament wanted to slow down the divorce process in the hope that parties who are divorcing would reconcile. Therefore, there are structured gaps between each stage of the divorce process. From filing until the Conditional Order of divorce (formerly called Decree Nisi) there is a period of approximately 20 weeks. Between Conditional Order and Final Order of divorce (formerly Decree Absolute) there is a further period of six weeks and one day before the Petitioner can make an application for the Final Order. Those timeframes remain in place.
Also to be factored in is court delays etc, so all in all the divorce process, with a fair wind behind it can take three to four months from start to finish. Does that make it ‘quickie’? I don’t think so but you can rest assured – the same rules apply to everyone.
Starting the Divorce Process
How you start the divorce process is very much down to you and is reflective of what your relationship is with your soon to be ex-spouse. When you file a divorce application on the online portal, your former spouse receives an email letting them know that you have started this process and invites them to engage. As you can imagine, receiving such an email out of the blue may not be the best way forward to a constructive and conciliatory divorce. If you are on speaking terms, it is best to discuss with your soon to be former spouse that you are thinking of commencing proceedings or are about to commence proceedings. If your relationship is actually quite good, you can have the discussion as to whether you wish to apply jointly or whether you are going to proceed with a sole divorce application yourself.
Thankfully, the no-fault scheme means that you do not need to provide any grounds for a divorce. You do not have to say anything unfortunate about your soon to be ex partner as to why you are seeking a divorce – the fact that you are filing the application is sufficient to meet the no-fault criteria.
If your relationship has soured then it may be best to invite your solicitor to write to them (or their solicitors) letting them know that you are going to proceed with a divorce application so that they can anticipate receiving the courts’ email asking them to engage in the divorce process.
Whilst applying for a divorce is mentally a big step to take, in legal terms it is not significant. The real work is working out what you are doing with the family finances and, if you have children, how is their time to be arranged between you. You want to focus on those issues rather than causing ill-will or having an argument with your former partner about the divorce itself. It is in your best interest to minimise potential disruption and therefore is always worth having a conversation if you are about to file.
You can listen to Julian talk about starting the divorce process in our video podcast Family Law Unpacked.
If you would like to speak to one of our family law specialists about starting the divorce process, please get in touch.
