To legally end a marriage or civil partnership, you will need to have been married or in the civil partnership for more than 12 months.
If you have not been married for at least 12 months, you can apply for a marriage annulment or complete a judicial separation application.

England and Wales operate a no-fault based divorce system which means that you do not have to provide a reason for the breakdown of your marriage, just a statement that your marriage has irretrievably broken down.

The divorce process varies from case to case, however in England and Wales it take approximately six to eight months for the full divorce process.

The length of a divorce is due to two key elements within the process that require a waiting period.

Firstly, there is a 20 week cooling-off period after the court has issued the application before the conditional order can be granted.

Once the conditional order has been granted, there is the second waiting period of six weeks until you can apply for the final court order.

Other factors can also lengthen the process of a divorce, including and complicated financial matters, child arrangement matters, the lack of cooperation by one party or even delays at family court.

The cost of a divorce depends on the method you choose and the complexity of the case.

Standard applicant court fees are £593 to process the divorce application within the court of law. When a solicitors is acting, the cost of preparing the paperwork, handling the application and proceedings starts at £750 +VAT.

Depending on the complexity of the issues within the divorce where there are financial and/or child arrangements to resolve, the solicitors costs will vary from case to case and additional court proceedings/fees are required.

To see our full breakdown of costs please see our Family Price List here.

Our fixed fee divorces are our standard costs with no frills.

Standard applicant court fees are £593 to process the divorce application within the court of law. When a solicitors is acting, the cost of preparing the paperwork, handling the application and proceedings starts at £750 +VAT.

If however, your case becomes more complex, you may need to seek further advice which will increase costs. These costs will vary from case to case dependent on additional work and court fees where required.

To see our full breakdown of costs please see our Family Price List here.

We do not have a contract with the Legal Aid Agency and are therefore unable to offer legal aid to our clients.

Search here for a list of approved legal aid solicitors and law firms on the government’s legal aid website.

When getting a divorce, generally both sides will pay their own legal costs (see our divorce price list for more information on costs.)

The person applying (the applicant) for the divorce is responsible for the court fee. If it is a joint application, then applicant one will pay the court fees. The court fees are currently £593.

The applicant can ask for the respondent (the other party) to pay the court fees or share the cost. This is rarely done due to the necessity to make a separate application to the court to ask for a costs order.

The complexity of who pays what grows with the complexity of the case. Financial settlements and/or child arrangements can make a huge impact on your own personal cost. To see a full price list of family law pricing head here.

The process for ending a civil partnership or same-sex marriage is the same as for heterosexual marriages.

You cannot use the same solicitor as your spouse as this would be a conflict of interest for the solicitor. You should both take independent legal advise from your own divorce solicitor so they can act in your best interests.

Going to court during your divorce proceedings will depend entirely on the complexity of your unique case. For a fixed fee divorce, it is highly unlikely that you will need to go to court for the divorce proceedings.

If you reach a financial settlement by agreement, this can also be dealt with without court attendance.

If you are unable to reach an agreement despite trying a route of mediation or arbitration, it will be necessary to deal with this through the court process which will involve you attending court for hearings.

This is often referred to at the first stage of the divorce process. A Conditional order is a certificate that says the court does not see any reason why a couple cannot divorce or separate.

This however does not bring a marriage to an end. In the eyes of the law, the couple in question remains married until the final order has been granted, meaning the couple can still prevent the divorce form being finalised should feelings or situation change.

The final order is the last stage of the divorce which legally ends your marriage or civil partnership.

After the conditional order has been granted, a cooling off period of six seeks must be adhered to.

Before applying for the final order, it is advised that finalising the divorce including any financial settlements and/or child arrangements should take place due to the significant implications of the final order.

Once you have received your final order, you must keep the documentation safe as you may require it if you choose to revert to your maiden name or wish to remarry.

If for whatever reason, you do not apply for the final order within 12 months of the conditional order being granted, you will have to explain the reason for the delay in court.

Mediation is a very effective process if you are struggling to come to an agreement on any issues arising from your divorce or separation. It involves both sides working together with a mediator to reach an agreement with a honest and open dialogue so all issues are remedied.

Mediation is usually a much quicker and more cost-effective process than a traditional solicitor led negotiation process or litigation. A mediator is trained to handle such negotiations in a calm and friendly environment which usually results in a more positive relationship to help move families forward.

We currently do not have any practising mediators at this time, however we can provide a contact of a professional mediator through our network.

Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution that will resolve disputes outside the judiciary courts. In the case of a divorce, a third party known as the arbitrator will adopt the role of Judge, deciding on the issues they have been appointed to deal with after hearing and reviewing evidence from both parties as a Judge would at a final hearing, for instance financial and/or child arrangement matters.

When conducting an arbitration, the arbitrator must conform to and apply the law of England and Wales making their decision binding. This is known as an Award (financial matters) or a Determination (children matters). The decision can then be embodied into Court Order and submitted to the Courts for approval by a Judge.

This can make the process much quicker, more cost effective and give greater control to the case. Both parties must agree to engage in arbitration however, and there are additional costs involved to assign an arbitrator to your case.

For more information on this, please contact us here.

Under English law, a person’s mental capacity is judged according to the decision that needs to be made. The primary consideration here will be if the party with mental health concerns has the capacity to provide instructions and to agree to a divorce or financial settlement. Can they make an informed decision?

If there is any doubt on a person’s mental capacity, a doctor must make an assessment to determine if they are mentally fit to make the specific decisions they are facing.

If it is decided they do not have mental capacity, it is possible to progress the case if a representative is appointed to act on their behalf to make decisions in their best interests.

A collaborative divorce involves both parties and their separate lawyers working together to achieve a settlement that suit the entire family without the stresses that going to court may bring.

The collaborative divorce process allows both parties to discuss their hopes and concerns in safe environment, to have their needs considered fairly, and if children are factor, to give their needs and interests a priority.

It allows both parties to retain control over the process rather than a judge deciding a settlement at a final hearing – usually the first point of contact. Usually, the collaboration is done with a process of face to face meetings, making the couple more involved and reducing the risk of words being misinterpreted.

Once a collaboration agreement is signed, going to court or threatening to do so is prohibited. This reinforces both parties’ commitment to making the process work to finding the best solution for all going forward.

Many people going through separation don’t necessarily feel ready to go through the finality a divorce proceeding brings. In this scenario, there are other options available including judicial separation, annulment or separation agreement.

There are a number of options regarding child arrangements during a marriage or civil partnership breakdown – please see our Child Law page for more information.

This will entirely depend on the uniqueness and complexity of your case. The starting point is always equality, but often takes a departure from that. A financial agreement is put in place to regulate how assets are split which can then be formalised by a court order. We cover more on divorce finances here.