Thank you for the information.
From 6 April 2022, there was a change in the law in regard divorce removing the five ‘reasons’ for divorce, then need to allege fault if you wanted to divorce before waiting for two years post separation and bringing in a number of procedural changes.
One party will still be able to say that the marriage has irretrievably broken-down but crucially, both parties to a divorce will be able to make the application jointly. In practice, this new process should avoid a lot of hostility between parties resulting in a smoother outcome.
There will be new, more modern terminology referred to in proceedings. For example, the party issuing proceedings will now be referred to as the Applicant as opposed to a Petitioner. The documents issued by the court confirming that the divorce can be granted have changed from Decree Nisi and Decree Absolute to a “Conditional Order” and a “Final Order” respectively.
You can make a joint application if both of the following apply:
- you both agree that you should get a divorce
- you’re not at risk of domestic abuse
You will need to decide if you want to apply online or by post. Your husband or wife needs to use the same application method.
You’ll both have to separately confirm that you want to continue with the divorce application at each stage of the process.
If your husband or wife stops responding, you’ll be able to continue with the divorce application as a sole applicant.
If you want to apply for financial help with the divorce application fee, both of you must be eligible to qualify. Otherwise, the fee is £593 (a one off application fee) and you should share this cost equally if possible.
You can apply on line at www.gov.uk
Is there anything more I can clarify for you?