Unlike within some other countries, when you apply for a divorce in England, you must be able to prove that your marriage has irretrievably broken down by meeting at least one of the following five criteria.
* One of the parties must have committed adultery,
* There must have been unreasonable behaviour by the one party, leading to the breakdown of the marriage.
* The couple must have been living apart for two years or more and both parties consent to the divorce.
* If one party refuses to consent to he divorce, then the couple must have been living apart for five years or more.
* Or the applicant must prove that they were deserted by the other party at least two years previously.
Divorce in England is also a two step process. The first step, the ‘Decree nisi’, is where the Court has found there to be adequate grounds for the divorce according to the above criteria. The second and final step is the ‘Decree Absolute’. Once this has been granted by the Court, the divorce becomes final and irrevocable.
Generally if you wish to apply for a divorce in England, you can expect this process to take a minimum time scale of around six months for completion. In reality though, the process can extend over a much longer period if you take into account potential court delays along with the fact that most divorces are not straightforward and so require adjournments whilst more information is provided by either or both parties.
There are things that you can do to help to speed up the divorce process, simple things like making sure that you have prepared, and provided, all the relevant documentation, and ensuring that your Solicitor - if you are using one - has lodged all the appropriate applications in a timely manner. Even if you are using a Solicitor, it may also be possible for you to lodge the applications yourself to help ensure that your applications are lodged with the Court in the most timely fashion.
If you are considering applying for a divorce in England you should do some research, as you don’t necessarily need to engage the services of a Solicitor to help you through this process. It is apparently becoming more common to conduct your own proceedings. However, if you are considering the idea of representing yourself, you need to bear in mind that it can be very hard, if not impossible for a lot of people, to represent themselves in a non-emotional, unbiased manner in something as emotionally draining as a divorce case.
One other item that constitutes an important part of your divorce is the Separation Agreement. This is a written agreement which basically outlines the terms of your divorce. It is beneficial to help to avoid miscommunication over the emotional issues, including, property, child support and financial settlements. If you and your potential ex-spouse can sit down together and draw up such an agreement, it is very likely that your divorce in England will run smoothly and may not even require a court appearance.