Blog post written by Seetal Missan

A divorce can be issued 1 year after the marriage date.

As a minimum it can take 6 months from the time in which a petition is issued by the Court before a divorce is finalised.

Divorce does normally take around 1 year to finalise, however if there are outstanding financial matters which need to be considered, then it can longer.

There are different stages of a divorce application which can take time to be processed and this is why it can take between 6 months to a year.

If you are and your ex partner are in agreement to a divorce being applied for, then this can help to make the process quicker, however if your ex partner may not agree to a divorce if you are no longer sure where they re living, this may affect the duration of the divorce.

There is unfortunately no way of fast tracking a divorce, even though the press are also stating that celebrity was granted a “quick divorce”.

It is important to ensure that you have all your documentation to apply for a divorce which is your original marriage certificate and a translation if the certificate is not in English.

You will then need to draft a divorce petition and ensure that this is completed accurately as any mistakes or missed sections may mean that the petition is rejected and will be returned to you.

You will need to ensure that you send three copies of the signed petition as well as your original marriage certificate to the Court.

There is a court fee of £550 to issue a divorce and if you are on a low income, you may be able to apply for a fee remission to be exempt from paying this fee. You will need proof of your financial circumstances along with this application.

Once a petition has been sent to Court, you will need to ensure that the petition is served on your former partner to ensure that they notice of the proceedings.

The application is then separated into different stages and you must then complete the necessary documentation to obtain the Decree Absolute which is the divorce. 

If you wish to arrange a consultation with me to discuss the above, please contact me on 02078411099.