Legal support through your divorce

Grounds for Divorce

You do not have an automatic right to a divorce in the UK.  It must be based on one of the following five facts:

1. One party has committed adultery;
2. One party has behaved unreasonably such that the parties cannot be expected to continue living together;
3. One party has deserted the other for a period of 2 or more years;
4. The parties have been separated for a period of 2 or more years AND both consent to the divorce;
5. The parties have been separated for a period of 5 or more years.

If any of the above apply, you are entitled to petition for Divorce. Your divorce solicitor should guide you through the process as described below.

The Divorce Process

We have produced a Divorce flowchart to show the process:

Divorce Flow Chart

Once you have petitioned for a divorce citing one of the reasons listed above, a document from your spouse will also need to be filed with the court. If the court agrees with the documentation they will grant a Decree Nisi, a document which states that they see no reason why you cannot divorce. 6 weeks and a day later you can apply for the final order, a Decree Absolute. The Court will check that the time limits have been met and that there are no other reasons not to grant the divorce. The court will then send you both a Decree Absolute. Once you get the Decree Absolute, you are divorced, no longer married and free to marry again, if you would like to.

Generally, the Divorce process is dealt with by way of agreement between the parties. In this instance, the Divorce is simply a paperwork exercise and will rarely require either party to attend Court.  There are regrettably some instances where the Divorce is contested – our team of divorce solicitors have the expertise to advise you should this rare occasion arises.

The financial aspects of Divorce are dealt with separately from the Divorce and information can be found on our Financial Remedy page.

How can we help you?

There are a number of ways Hepburn Delaney Solicitors can support you through your Divorce.  If your Divorce is going to be agreed between you and your spouse, we offer a fixed fee to undertake all the work from drafting the Petition, right through to obtaining the final order, Decree Absolute.   The only additional cost will be the Court fee and any additional work associated with financial remedy.

Alternatively, if you wish to undertake this work yourself, we are happy to advise you on an ad hoc basis at our competitive hourly rates. The Divorce Petition is the main document that must be completed and sent to the Court.  If you would like to prepare this form yourself it can be found here:

http://hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/HMCTS/FormFinder.do

If the Divorce is to be defended, we will advise you of the likely fees at the outset and help you manage your legal costs to your best advantage.

If you decide to proceed with a Divorce we suggest that in the first instance you attend our initial fixed fee appointment when we can discuss your options in full.

Get in touch with our Hemel Hempstead based divorce solicitors to ensure that you understand your legal position, the process and what your entitlements are.

 Call us on 01442 218090 or send an email to info@hepburndelaney.co.uk.

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