Divorce

The breakdown of any relationship is never straightforward – and especially a divorce, but with our reliable team of experts by your side, we can help you navigate the legal process to help you move forward in life.

Obtaining legal advice is essential if you’re considering initiating divorce proceedings, particularly when there are matrimonial finances to be settled or childcare arrangements to be determined.

It is no longer the case that you either need to apportion blame (such as adultery or unreasonable behaviour) in order to obtain a divorce or wait a minimum of two years. As of April 2022, the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 has come into effect. Separating couples are no longer required to rely one of the “five facts” to prove irretrievable breakdown of the relationship.  Instead, the law now adopts a more straight forward and amicable approach to separation.

The No Fault divorce process under the new legislation has introduced joint applications, where the couple both agree that the relationship has broken down irretrievably. You can submit a sole application if your partner does not agree or fails to co-operate.

The new legislation has removed the ability to contest a divorce, dissolution or separation, save for extremely limited circumstances such as cases where the Courts in England and Wales does not have jurisdiction or if a marriage is not valid.

The divorce process typically takes a minimum of six months to completion, but can extend beyond this depending on the circumstances of your matter and whether additional arrangements for children and finances need to be made.

There is now a minimum period of 20 weeks from the issue of petition to when the “conditional order” can be made (what used to be called Decree Nisi). We generally use this period of time to try settle your finances and agree child arrangements. A financial order cannot be filed at Court until conditional order is pronounced.

Once conditional order is made, there is a 6 week period before you can apply for Final Order (what used to be known as Decree Absolute). A final order formally dissolves your marriage or civil partnership.

Whether you are the petitioner in divorce proceedings or have received a petition from your ex-partner, we can act for a fixed fee in this matter.

The first step of the divorce process is often the most daunting and so we offer a free initial meeting where we can help you in person.

We have offices in Bath, Chippenham, Cheltenham, Swindon, Salisbury and Newbury.