ENGLAND & WALES Law and Practice Contributed by: Jeremy Levison, Miranda Green and Alexander Bartlett, Levison Meltzer Pigott
Levison Meltzer Pigott St Paul’s House 10 Warwick Lane London EC4M 7BP England Tel: +44 20 7556 2400 Email: enquiries@LMPlaw.co.uk Web: www.levisonmeltzerpigott.co.uk
1. Divorce 1.1 Grounds, Timeline, Service and Process Grounds for Divorce From 6 April 2022, the divorce process has been streamlined considerably. The singular ground for divorce has not changed – it remains the case that a party must show that their marriage has irretrievably broken down. However, it is no longer necessary, as used to be the case in the majority of instances, to allege that this is a result of your spouse’s behaviour. For many this is seen as the recognition of a more modern relationship dynamic, in which it is accepted that relationships do not necessarily end because one person is to blame. Similarly, since 2022 it has been possible for parties to submit a joint application for divorce. An almost identical process applies in the case of same-sex marriages and civil partnerships. The term divorce will be used here to refer interchangeably to these additional scenarios unless otherwise specified. Process In the absence of a jurisdiction dispute or difficulties with service, therefore, the divorce process is the easy part. An application can be made by either party (or jointly) once 12 months have passed from the point of marriage. It is primarily a tick-box exercise confirm ‑ ing a wish to end the marriage and is often done by the parties themselves even when they have lawyers acting for them. The court will typically issue the application within a week or two and, in the case of a sole application,
will ask the other party to confirm service and accept ‑ ance that this is the correct jurisdiction. The parties then have a “cooling off” period of 20 weeks before they can apply for the middle stage of proceedings, known as the Conditional Order (“decree nisi” in old money). At that stage the court is confirming that the parties are entitled to finalise their divorce should they wish to. Once that middle stage is granted, the parties must wait a further six weeks before they are entitled to apply for a Final Order which, once made, would for ‑ mally dissolve the marriage. Typically, parties do not make this application until they have finalised their financial arrangements due to the risks associated with no longer being married before the finances have been resolved; most commonly in the event of one party’s untimely passing. If either party seeks to final ‑ ise the divorce it is potentially open to the other party to object on specified grounds. Neither party is invited to attend the court during this process unless there is a contested hearing. Save for the limited circumstances in which a party can seek to obstruct a divorce process, the individuals can commit their focus (and indeed budget) to the wider consequences of their separation in the context of finances and children. Service Service of a divorce application is typically dealt with by the court. When the application is made, the respondent’s address is provided and the court will send out a copy of the materials via email and/or post.
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