We’ve waited a long time for ‘no fault’ divorce ie a divorce without having to make allegations of unreasonable behaviour or adultery if you don’t want to wait until you’ve been separated for two years.
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 received royal assent in June 2020 and is finally due to come into force on 6 April 2022. The long delay is due to the changes in the court service digital platform not being ready, and a lot of the Family Procedure Rules having to be redrafted.
The new divorce process will be easier for litigants in person. If one person says the marriage has broken down the other person will not be able to dispute this or contest the divorce like they can now if they don’t want the marriage to end. The language will be updated so that the application will no longer be called a petition, decree nisi will become a ‘conditional order’ and a decree absolute will be called a ‘final order’.
One big change is that you will be able to make a joint application for divorce. I would not recommend this if you’re divorcing someone who may be difficult further down the line although it will be possible to apply later for it to be converted to a sole application.
The reason I’m telling you about this now is so that if you know you’ll be going to divorce in the next few months you’re aware you have a choice. You can wait until after 6 April and have a more civilised and amicable divorce without one of you having to make accusations against the other. But be aware that it will take longer to get a divorce so if you’re in a hurry for any reason you’ll want to get your petition in before 6 April.
After that there will be at least 20 weeks between the application for divorce and the conditional order, and then another six weeks before you can get the final order. That’s a total of six months, whereas you can get a divorce in two or three months at the moment. Most people aren’t in a hurry as it usually takes at least that long to resolve children and financial arrangements. But I’m assuming you will still have to wait for the conditional order before the court can make a financial order so it could delay things if you don’t get your divorce application in promptly.
And of course there’s always the possibility that the new computer system will crash and the delays will be even longer!
Another thing to bear in mind is that there will no longer be any orders for costs.
At the moment, if you file a behaviour or an adultery petition you can ask the court to order your spouse to pay your costs because the divorce is deemed to be their fault. Your costs will be the court fee of £592 and if you have a solicitor, their fees for the divorce too (but only the divorce, not any work relating to children or financial proceedings). So if you want your ex to pay your fees you may want to get your petition in before 6 April next year.
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