Divorce In England
Unlike some other countries, if you are applying for a divorce in England, you must be able to prove that your marriage has broken down beyond irretrievability by meeting at least one of the following five criteria. Adultery, unreasonable behavior of the other party, living apart for two years or more and the other party consents to the divorce, living apart for five years or more without consent of the other party, or desertion by the other party for at least two years.
Divorce in England is also a two step process. The first step which is called the Decree nisi is where the Court has found there to be adequate grounds for the divorce. The second and final step is the Decree Absolute. Once this has been granted by the Court, the divorce is irrevocable.
Generally if you wish to apply for a divorce in England, you are looking at a minimum time scale of around six months for the process, from beginning to end. In reality though the process can extend for a much longer period if you take into account court delays along with the fact that most divorces are not straightforward.
Though there are things that you can do to speed up the process. Simple things like making sure you are on top of all the documentation and ensuring that your Solicitor - if you are using one - has lodged all the appropriate applications in a timely manner. It may also be possible for you to lodge the applications yourself even if you are using a Solicitor, thereby ensuring that your applications are lodged with the Court in a timely fashion.
If you are considering applying for a divorce in England you should know that you dont necessarily need to engage the services of a Solicitor for the process. It is in fact becoming more common to conduct your own proceedings. However, if you are considering to represent yourself, you should be aware that it can be very hard, if not impossible for a lot of people, to represent themselves in a non-emotional, unbiased manner in something as emotional as a divorce case.
One other item that you might want to consider as part of your divorce is to set out a Separation Agreement. This is a written agreement which basically sets out the terms of the divorce to avoid miscommunication over items such as property, child support and financial settlements. If you and your potential ex-spouse can sit down and draw up such an agreement, it is very likely that your divorce in England will run smoothly and may not even require a court appearance.
