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It is advisable to obtain some legal advice before starting your petition. In order to confirm the following:-
You may have to attend the court about financial support, property or the arrangements of any children if you cannot agree these matters between you.
Once your divorce petition has been sent to the Court you will be sent a notice of issue of petition. It will tell you when the petition was sent to the respondent (your husband or wife). It will also be a receipt for your fee (if you have paid for one) and will give you a divorce case number. The Respondent will then have eight days to return the acknowledgment of service they will have been sent. The eight days start the day after they receive the petition. You will know that they have received the petition when they have returned their acknowledgment of service to the court. The court will send you a copy.
The respondent or any co-respondent may then do the following ignore the petition, or notify the Court that they agree to the petition or that they intend to contest your petition. If the acknowledgment of service has not been sent back to the court when eight days have passed since the petition was sent, the county court bailiff will then be asked to deliver the petition and documents to the respondent or personally.
The matter is then listed for a hearing and the court will place your file before a Judge and decide whether or not you can have a divorce. You will not need to attend court for this. If the Judge says that you are entitled to a divorce then you will receive a certificate of entitlement to a decree together with the date and time when the Judge will grant your divorce. A decree nisi is the first of two decrees you must have before you are finally divorced and free to re-marry.
If the Judge says that you cannot have a divorce then the court will notify you why the Judge has decided your case is not in order and in most cases the court needs more information.
To make your decree nisi absolute you need to apply. The first date you can apply for your decree absolute is six weeks and one day from the date your decree nisi was pronounced. If you are the respondent and the petitioner has not already applied for the decree absolute you are able to apply for it three months, six weeks and one day from the date of your decree nisi. The Court will consider all of the following; if there are any children; if the court is satisfied with the arrangements proposed for them: or that even if the court is not satisfied, there are no exceptional circumstances affecting the decree absolute; six weeks have passed since your decree nisi was pronounced; there is no other reason why your decree nisi cannot be made absolute.
If everything is in order the court will send you the decree absolute. This is your final decree and you are now free to re-marry if you wish.
During or after a divorce, the annulment of a marriage or judicial separation, there may still be a need for the court to settle disputes over money or property. The court can make a financial order. This is known as ancillary relief and it may deal with the transfer of property, maintenance payments, a lump sum payment and/or pension sharing or attachment order.
It is advisable to obtain legal advice in respect of any financial order that you may wish to obtain.
