Can I be divorced by Christmas?!

Has the summer thrown up some difficult issues in your marriage, such that the thought of spending another autumn and winter (and Christmas!) with your spouse seems unbearable?  Have you reached the end of your tether and feel that no amount of talking or working at the marriage will improve things? 

With the dawn of the “no fault” divorce process and online procedure through the Court’s portal, pursuing a divorce is now approximately 40% quicker than via the old hard copy paper and postal route.  That said, it is unfortunately not possible for you to issue a divorce application now and run it from start to Final Order (formerly Decree Absolute) before the end of this year. 

Time for filling in the application aside, once you have lodged your divorce application, our experience shows you could wait up to 7 days for the application to be officially issued. There is then a 14-day period for the filing of a response (an Acknowledgment of Service) by your spouse. Assuming there is no intention to defend submitted, you then enter the obligatory 120 days waiting period.

Once that period has elapsed, you can then apply for your Conditional Order (previously known as Decree Nisi).  As a Judge will now consider your case, that could require a wait of another couple of weeks.

Once your Conditional Order is in place, you must wait 6 weeks and one day before seeking your Final Order and dissolving the marriage.

If we add these times together, we reach approximately 218 days, which will take us into March 2027!  This assumes there are no delays of course.  Incorrectly completed documents, delays by your spouse, or queries from the court could all influence your speed of progress.

Looking on the positive side, this gives you a good amount of time to address the question of finances, which really must be tackled in tandem with the divorce process.  Trying to deal with that aspect yourself, in the absence of specialist legal advice, is really false economy.  If you are able to seek legal advice now, press on with discussions in mediation, and reach an agreement in advance of your Final divorce Order, then that would be the ideal. 

We do not recommend you finalise your divorce until a court order ratifying your financial division is in place.  If your discussions are protracted or break down and financial proceedings have to be pursued in court, then that will lead to a delay in finalising your divorce.

So, divorced by Christmas? No – but Easter might be feasible!

If you have any questions with the content of this article, please do not hesitate to contact me here.