How to apply for a divorce online?

You can now apply for your divorce online if you are in England and Wales. The court has introduced a user-friendly portal to allow individuals to apply for and action their divorce themselves. You can visit this by following:-

https://www.gov.uk/divorce/file-for-divorce

It is important to note that a divorce does not ordinarily bring to an end financial claims you could make against one another.  We would recommended that you speak to one of our specialist experts regarding potential financial settlements and how to bring any potential claims to an end.

Before you start your divorce, it is important to ensure you have all of the necessary documents to hand. You will need:-

• The full name, address and date of birth of you and your spouse;
• A scanned complete copy of your marriage certificate.

JOINT OR SINGLE APPLICATIONS

When making your application, you can decide to progress this as a joint or a sole application. If you decide to proceed with a sole application, it will be your responsibility to complete the application in full and progress the application through the relevant stages. Your spouse will still be notified and asked to confirm they have received the application.

If you proceed with a joint application, unlike a sole application, both parties will need to confirm at each stage that they agree for the application to be progressed.  You may wish to discuss these options further with one of our specialist Solicitors.

PAY THE FEE

There is a fee payable whilst making your application. For the most up to date fee, please check the Government website as linked above. The fee will be payable by the person who submits the application. You and your partner may decide to share this fee amongst yourselves.

STAGES OF THE DIVORCE

Application: Firstly, you will need to submit your application as above.

Waiting period: Once the application has been issued, it will enter in to a mandatory 20 week wait period. This is ordinarily to allow the parties time to consider and address the financial matters. It is only after this 20 weeks that you can move on to the next stage.

Conditional order: After the mandatory 20 weeks, the applicant can apply for the conditional order. Ultimately, this document says that the Court does not see any reason why you cannot divorce. It is important to note that you can only finalise a financial order after you have a conditional order in place.

Final order: You then need to wait at least six weeks and one day after the conditional order is granted before you can apply for your final divorce order. This is the document which shows your divorce is finalised and you are no longer legally married to one another.

If you would like help in applying for your divorce we would be pleased to assist you, and are able to offer a fixed fee service for divorce applications.  Please contact a member of our team on 0117 962 1205 and ask to speak to one of our Family Law specialists. Alternatively, please feel free to email the head of our family department, Jo Morris.