Before you apply for a divorce+

You can only get a divorce if you’ve been married for at least one year.

You might be able to get divorced without needing a solicitor or going to court if you and your ex-partner are in agreement that your marriage has irretrievably broken down, that one or both of you wants a divorce and you are happy to come to an agreement about the split of finances.

Getting a divorce legally finalised will usually take 6+ months which includes a 20 week wait from the point at which proceedings commence to the date on which you can apply for the Conditional Divorce Order and then a further 6 week wait until you can apply for the Final Divorce Order. It might take longer if you need to sort out issues with money, property or children which will have to be done separately. Before you end your marriage, you'll also need to decide how to divide any money you share, what happens to the home and where your children will live, if you have any.

You should also make sure you have a copy of your marriage certificate so that you can fill out the details necessary to divorce.

Applying for a divorce+

Filling out the form

You can apply for a divorce by filling out form D8 and sending it to your nearest divorce centre by post or you can complete the form online. If you decide to send it by post, you will need to send three copies and keep one.

The nearest divorce centre if you live in Peterborough is:

Bury St Edmunds Regional Divorce Centre

2nd Floor Triton House St Andrews Street North Bury St Edmunds IP33 1TR

But you can also check on the website below if you live outside of Peterboroough:

https://courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk/search/postcode?aol=Divorce&spoe=start.

If you are applying online, all you need to do is complete the form, which can be found by clicking here

Costs

There is a £593 fee to get divorced and this is usually paid by the person applying for the divorce (known as the petitioner). There is also an option on the form which you can tick if you think that the other party (the respondent) should pay the costs. If you cannot afford to pay this fee, then you may want to find out if you can get help paying it, which you can do by clicking here

Getting help

You may want to instruct a solicitor to help you in obtaining your divorce. They can help you with filling out the form, going to court and speaking with your ex-partner and their solicitor so you do not have to. For a list of local solicitors, please click here. ARU Law Clinic also offers a free half an hour of legal advice from a family law solicitor. To book an appointment, please click here.

Children and divorce+

If you have children, then arrangements will need to be made for them regarding where they are going to live and how much time they spend with each parent. For a guide on sorting out arrangements for your children, please click here. There is also a page dedicated to child arrangements on this website, click here to access.

Financial considerations+

You will need to consider the financial aspects of your marriage when you get divorced including how to divide up property, investments and money. You can avoid going to court to do this if you and your ex-partner can make an agreement privately. If you are able to do this, a solicitor can then help to make this agreement legally binding by writing it up into a consent order for the court to approve. If you are unable to reach an agreement, then it may be necessary to instruct a mediator to help you reach an agreement. If you still cannot reach an agreement then you can ask the court to decide for you, which is known as a financial order and there will be court costs involved.

Ending a Civil Partnership+

You can legally end your civil partnership by asking the court for a ‘dissolution order’. You can only do this if your civil partnership has lasted for at least one year. If you have children, you will have to sort out arrangements for them when you end a civil partnership. You might also need to sort out financial and housing arrangements.

Dissolution orders+

If you want to legally end your civil partnership, you will need to apply to a court for a dissolution order. Your civil partnership must have lasted at least one year before you can apply for a dissolution. You must prove to the court that the civil partnership has 'irretrievably' broken down - that is broken down on a permanent basis.

Applying for a dissolution order

You can apply for a dissolution order in the same way as an application is made for divorce, by filling out form D8. This can be done online or you can download a printable version, click here.

If your partner agrees to the dissolution of your civil partnership, the court will look at the papers and make a conditional order of dissolution. The dissolution will be made final six weeks from the date of the conditional order.

If your partner doesn't agree to the dissolution, you should consult a solicitor or make an appointment for a free half an hour of advice in the ARU Law Clinic.

Separation orders+

You can get a separation order if your civil partnership has lasted less than a year, or you don’t want to end it. This could help you sort out problems with money if you and your ex-partner can’t agree but it won’t end your civil partnership.

If you want to end your civil partnership, it’s usually better to wait until it’s lasted for a year so you can get a dissolution order. While you’re waiting, you could get a separation agreement to agree the details of how you want to separate.

Annulment+

For a civil partnership to be legal, it must meet certain conditions. For example, you and your partner must both be over 16 when you registered the partnership and you must not already be a civil partner or married to someone else.

If your civil partnership does not meet one of these conditions, the court can end the partnership by granting an annulment. When the court grants an annulment, it may say that your civil partnership is either:

· Void - in effect, the civil partnership never existed

· Voidable - this means the civil partnership was legal at the time it was registered but it isn't legal any longer.

Whether the court will say your civil partnership is void or voidable depends on the circumstances. If you want to apply for an annulment, you must usually do it within three years of the date you registered your civil partnership.

You will need to get legal advice if you want to apply for an annulment - you may want to speak to a solicitor or you could make an appointment for a free half an hour of legal advice at the ARU Law Clinic or you could visit Citizens Advice.

Children at the end of a civil partnership+

When a civil partnership ends, everyone with parental responsibility will need to decide who will care for the children on a day-to-day basis. Having parental responsibility means you share with your partner in the responsibility for your child's health, education and welfare.

If you're in a civil partnership, there are various ways in which you might have got parental responsibility for your partner's children.

It is best if everyone with parental responsibility can come to an arrangement about the care of your children. If you find it difficult to come to an agreement, you could try going to a family mediator to help. Any decisions you make there will not be legally binding.

If you can't come to an agreement about the care of your children, you can ask the court to make a decision for you by applying for a Child Arrangements Order – see the relevant part of this website for more information.

If you have got children and there's likely to be a dispute about the arrangements for their care, you may want to speak to a solicitor or you could make an appointment for a free half an hour of legal advice at the ARU Law Clinic or you could visit Citizens Advice.

Financial considerations+

At the end of a civil partnership, both parents are responsible for supporting their children financially, regardless of where the children will live. This means biological parents and people who have parental responsibility.

You and your partner have a legal responsibility to support one another financially at the end of a civil partnership. This is the case whether or not you have children.

There are three possible ways to arrange financial support:

· By agreement

· Child Maintenance Service

· Through the courts.

Housing rights at the end of a civil partnership+

Both civil partners have the right to live in the family home and neither of you can make the other one leave. This is regardless of whether both of you, or only one of you, own or rent the home. This applies unless a court has ordered otherwise.

If your civil partnership breaks down, a court can help you or your partner to enforce short-term rights to the home. This can include:

· The right to stay in your home

· The right for move back in if you left

· In certain circumstances, the right to stop your partner from coming into the home.

A court can also make long-term arrangements about housing. If there's a disagreement about housing, the court can deal with the disagreement alongside proceedings to dissolve a civil partnership.