Divorce Solicitors

Getting a divorce legally brings to an end the marriage between you and your spouse. If you are in a civil partnership, the process is called a dissolution. If you want to get married again or enter into another civil partnership in the future, it is necessary to get divorced or dissolve your civil partnership first.

For some people, they have no intention of remarrying or forming another civil partnership. In these situations, going through the legal process to end the union maybe a matter of choice. However, there are some legal implications to be aware of if you chose to remain legally tied to your ex partner.

Under inheritance rules, even if you have lived separately for some time, your spouse or civil partner may still have claims against your estate if you pass away while still being legally married, or in a civil partnership.

It is also important to bear in mind there may be financial consequences of remaining legally married or in a civil partnership, and it is important to get legal advice at some point after a separation to understand fully the legal implications and options.

For more information, or to speak to a family law specialist about your particular circumstances, please telephone Rowlinsons Solicitors and ask to speak to the family department.

In some situations, it might be possible to annul a marriage, instead of getting divorced. Unlike divorce, you can apply for annulment within the first year of marriage. If you don’t apply within the first year, you might have to explain the reason for the delay.

To apply for annulment, also known as nullity, you will need to show that the marriage:

• Was never legally valid (“void”)

• Was legally valid, but meets one of the reasons that make it “voidable”

Void marriages are those that were never legally valid in the first place. For example, if you were under the age of 16 when you got married, one of you was already legally married or in a civil partnership or where you are closely related to the person you married. In the situations of a void marriage, the law states that the marriage never existed. However, you will need legal papers, such as a decree of nullity, or nullity of marriage order, to confirm this.

A voidable marriage is where the marriage was valid, but can be annulled if one of the listed reasons is met. For example, if the marriage was not consummated, the other person had a sexual transmitted disease when you got married, your spouse was pregnant with someone else’s baby, one spouse is transitioning to a different gender, or you did not give proper consent to the marriage (for example where you were forced into the marriage).

If you would like further advice about annulling your marriage, or for assistance with a nullity application, please contact Rowlinsons Solicitors who would be happy to help. Please call and ask to speak to the Family Department.

If you are applying for a divorce, the Court will need you to prove that you have given the responding party notice of the petition. Usually, the responding party, or Respondent, will respond to the application to confirm that they have received it. This will let the Court know that they have had the divorce papers, and the Court will then notify you that the conditional order can be granted.

In situations where the other person doesn’t respond to the Court to say they’ve had the divorce papers, the Court will need proof that the Respondent has had a copy of the divorce petition. There are a number of ways of doing this, from paying for a specialist agent to personally serve the papers, to applying for an order of Deemed Service. The latter applies in situations where you might have other evidence that the papers have been received.

You may want to speak to a solicitor to discuss whether notice should be given before an application for divorce is sent to Court, or not. There may be issues of safety, or concerns about delay that may mean this isn’t possible. It may also be something to consider whether a joint application should be made. These are things to speak to a qualified and experienced specialist family solicitor about.

For more information about divorce, or to speak to our expert family lawyers, please contact us and ask to speak with the Family Department.

To be able to apply for divorce, the Court needs to be satisfied that both parties have been made aware of the application. In most situations, your ex-spouse will respond to the divorce papers online, confirming that they have received them. In that situation, the Court will let you know that you can then proceed to applying for the first stage of the divorce, the conditional order.

However, in some situations, your ex-spouse might not respond to the Court when the application is sent to them. In those situations, you might need to ask someone to personally serve the divorce papers on your ex-spouse. It is important that you don’t try and do this yourself. There are rules you have to comply with when personally serving divorce papers, so it is best to get legal advice to make sure this is done properly.

In some situations, you might be able to prove to the Court that your ex has had the papers, but just hasn’t responded. This is an application called deemed service. The Court will need evidence to confirm that your ex has had the papers, and again there are specific rules you have to comply with. It is best to get a solicitor to help you with this application and to make sure it is all done properly.

For more help and advice with applying for divorce, or help with divorce papers, please contact Rowlinsons Solicitors and ask to speak to the Family Department.

It is now possible to apply for divorce online through the Government Portal.

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

Some people feel that they can do this themselves, however others may feel that they need some help and support. It is possible to have a solicitor help you with the divorce application process. You can ask a Family Law Solicitor to deal with all of it for you, and they will be able to fill in the forms, send in the application, and help you to obtain your final decree. They will also be able to help if you have any problems with your ex-spouse not responding to the application. You can get help at any stage in the divorce application process, even if you decide to do some of it yourself. It is always important to take expert legal advice from an experienced Family Law Solicitor during the divorce process. It is also important to understand that a final decree of divorce doesn’t end financial settlement claims. Both parties to a marriage can still bring claims for finances at any point in the future until there is in place a binding final financial settlement court order.

For more help or information about applying for divorce, or for expert legal advice from a Family Law Solicitor, please contact Rowlinsons Solicitors and ask to speak to the Family Department.

The cost to get divorced, or obtain a dissolution of a civil partnership, in England and Wales can vary depending on whether you obtain legal advice or not, and whether the proceedings are defended or “uncontested”.

There is a Court fee to pay to HMCTS to apply for divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. In some situations, for example if you are on low income, you may qualify for help with legal fees. In that situation, you can ask the Court to consider a fee exemption. There is a separate form you need to complete to make that application, and you can obtain a copy on line, or from the Court office directly.

If you decide to have legal advice during the divorce or dissolution process, the costs for this can vary. If you and your ex partner are able to agree how the divorce will proceed, who will pay the costs, and if all of the forms are signed and returned when they need to be, your costs for the divorce process itself maybe relatively modest. In some situations, a fixed fee with a solicitor can also be agreed.

Separate from the divorce process itself, there could be additional legal and Court fees to deal with the financial side of matters.

If you need help with applying for divorce proceedings, or for more information about separating, please telephone Rowlinsons Solicitors and ask to speak to the Family Department.

A financial Court Order is a type of Order that can be made when two people get divorced, or dissolve their civil partnership. It sets out the financial provisions for each party in the divorce or dissolution proceedings.

A Final Order in divorce or dissolution applications is the Order which legally brings to an end a marriage. It does not however end both parties financial settlement claims against the other, which can potentially remain open until a financial Court Order is made.

Re-marriage or entering into a new civil partnership, can potentially affect someone’s ability to apply for financial settlement claims.

It is important to speak to an expert solicitor about your particular circumstances. For more information about financial Court Orders, or to organise an appointment with our expert family lawyers, please telephone Rowlinsons Solicitors and ask to speak to the Family Department.

There is no such thing as a “quickie” divorce. The same process for divorce applies to everyone and the length of time a divorce can take largely depends on the parties involved, how much has been agreed, and potentially any Court delays. It is important to understand that there is now a minimum time period between applying for divorce and obtaining either the conditions order (20 weeks) or the final order (6 weeks after conditional order).

For more information about divorce, or to speak to our expert family lawyers, please telephone and ask to speak with the Family Department.

The process to apply for divorce is exactly the same whether you are in a same sex or opposite sex marriage. You can only start divorce/dissolution proceedings after you have been married for a period of one year. There is now only one ground for divorce and that is the irretrievable breakdown of the relationship. An application for divorce can be started by one party separately, or by both parties jointly. A statement is required in the application form to confirm that the Applicant believes that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. There is a Court fee to pay to submit your application for divorce/dissolution.

Where an application is issued by one Applicant only, the application will be sent out to the Respondent to respond to the application forms. In the case of a joint application, both parties submit the application jointly and the fees are paid for by agreement between both parties. Both parties will also be required to respond to the application where the parties apply jointly.

If you wish to discuss applying for a divorce, or you want to speak further about what is involved in the process, please call and ask to speak with the Family Department.