Divorce

There is only one ground for divorce, and that is that a marriage has "irretrievably broken down".   In order to establish this, the person who petitions for the divorce (the petitioner) must rely on one of the following grounds:

• adultery - within the last 6 months and the petitioner finds it intolerable to continue living with their spouse
• unreasonable behaviour - the spouse has behaved in such a way that they cannot reasonably be expected to live with them
• desertion - the spouse must have been gone for a minimum of two years.  This fact is rarely used these days
• separation - if the couple have been separated for 2 years both parties must agree to the divorce
• separation - if the couple have been separate for 5 years, the petitioner does not need to gain their spouse's consent

Anyone who has been married for more than 12 months is entitled to petition for divorce, provided that one of the couple is either domiciled here or has been resident in England and Wales for the last 12 months.  It does not matter if the marriage took place in the UK or abroad.

Normally there is no need for either of you to attend court during the divorce process which is likely to take between 4 - 6 months to complete.

Q. How much will it cost?

A. The cost varies from case to case, depending on the amount of work that has to be done on your behalf and whether there are any complications.  However, if you are initiating divorce proceedings, a typical divorce would cost in the region of £500 solicitor's fees plus VAT, together with court fees of £347.

If you are the respondent in divorce proceedings started by your spouse, and you do not defend them, then the costs are likely to be considerably less (probably in the region of £250 solicitor's costs plus VAT and no court fees to pay), although you may be ordered to pay your spouse's costs.

Q. My husband had an affair, we reconciled, but the marriage has now broken down.  Can I divorce him on the grounds of his adultery

A. If you were reconciled for longer than 6 months since the adultery, you can now not use that as the ground for the divorce.  You could however divorce your husband on the basis of his unreasonable behaviour, and cite the adultery as an example of his behaviour.

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