Uncontested Divorce in England and Wales

What is an uncontested divorce?

If you and your spouse have decided to obtain a divorce, what is the easiest, cheapest and quickest way of achieving this?Most people will opt for an uncontested divorce to achieve these objectives. The purpose of this page is to understand what an uncontested divorce is and what you need to do to obtain one.

Grounds for divorce in England and Wales

To obtain an uncontested divorce you must be able to satisfy the court that one of the recognised grounds for divorce applies to you. There is only one ground for divorce in England and Wales which then has to be based on one of five facts namely adultery, behaviour, desertion, 2 years separation with consent and five years separation without consent.

To obtain the uncontested divorce the court not only has to be satisfied that there is a genuine ground for divorce and the fast is proved but also that the other party to the marriage does not formally object to it. If both of these criteria are met then an uncontested divorce can be achieved quite quickly.

What is the procedure for getting an uncontested divorce?

To apply you must first complete a legal document known as a ‘petition’. This document sets out all of the details of the parties applying for the divorce. This is sent to the court along with a ‘statement of arrangement for children’ if there are children involved in the divorce. This explains how residence and contact arrangements for the children have been agreed.Once these documents have been filed with the court the other party to the marriage have to file what is known as “an acknowledgment of service form” and the court will then issue directions leading to a decree hearing to confirm the divorce known as the Decree Nisi. Attendance at this hearing is not usually required and the judge will issue a Decree Nisi (the first stage of the formal divorce).

Six weeks and one day after the decree nisi has been granted by the court you can apply for the decree to be made absolute which finalises your divorce.

Assets

Normally agreement is reached with the other party to the marriage as to the division of assets so this does not form a part of the formal divorce. If agreement cannot be reached in terms of the assets it is unlikely that an uncontested divorce will be suitable.

If you can reach agreement, the parties can have a consent order drawn up which sets out the terms of the settlement and dismisses claims in the future. This document can only be filed with the court after the Decree Nisi has been

Court Fees

With every divorce filed there are unfortunately mandatory court fees. These are currently £34o to issue the divorce petition and £45 to apply for the final decree. If you also file consent order there is a further fee of £45.00

How Can Divorce-Online help?

Divorce-Online have a range of uncontested divorce packages to suit most budgets, from DIY packages designed to allow you to file your own divorce and managed packages where they will deal with the whole process from start to finish.

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Information on this page is current and last updated: 17/5/2012