No Fault Divorce Explained…

04 Dec 2024

A “new” simplified and easy to understand Divorce process has been in place in England and Wales since April 2022.

It has been hailed as historic and the most major shake-up in over 50 years as it ends the need for separating couples to apportion blame for the breakdown of their marriage.

Here are the Top 10 things you need to know:

Rubin Lewis O’Brien offers a free initial consultation where we obtain details and discuss the way forward.
There is no longer any need for separating couples to apportion blame for the breakdown of their marriage. Rather, a spouse, or a couple jointly, can apply for a divorce by stating that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. This removes some of the acrimony when emotions are already running high.
The process to end a Civil Partnership is essentially the same as that of ending a marriage.
There is a court fee on lodging the papers (currently it is £593) but you may be eligible for fees exemption if you are on a low income.
The divorce process takes about 6 months from start to finish and no-one needs to physically appear in court.
There are 4 main stages – Application, Response, Conditional Order, and the Final Order.
The Final Order of Divorce (previously known as Decree Absolute) only ends the marriage, it does not deal with finances or the financial ties that come with marriage.
Rubin Lewis O’Brien can help you resolve finances. For example, pensions are impacted by divorce, you may own property jointly, you may need financial help from your spouse or certainty that the financial help will continue.
In 2021, there were 113,505 divorces in England and Wales (a 9.6% increase compared with 2020).
It is wise to start thinking about your finances and your future at the same time (or even before) the divorce.