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So, you’re considering an online divorce and you want to know if you’re eligible. You’re in luck: this article will tell you what requirements need to be met, which ones we’d strongly recommend and which ones you don’t need to worry about.

Essential for an online divorce

You and your spouse need to agree to a divorce

This the first, and most important, hurdle you’ll need to clear before you even consider getting an online divorce: you and your spouse need to agree that you both want a divorce and, furthermore, agree your grounds.

It is possible to obtain a divorce when you’re not in agreement, but it can get extremely difficult and an online divorce simply won’t meet your needs.

You need to divide your assets

Some may say that this is optional but, whilst you can get a divorce without formally dividing your assets, we think it’s absolutely essential that you and your spouse determine how you’ll divide your assets – and make this agreement binding – before finalising your divorce. If you don’t, you might find your spouse making a claim against you in the near, or even distant, future.

We’d also recommend

Agree childcare arrangements

Again, there’s no need for you to have agreed where the children will live, when they’ll stay with their non-resident parent etc. but we’d recommend that you do.

Ultimately, the only reason we’ve not deemed this to be essential is because these arrangements have to be flexible and are certain to change. Nevertheless, we always advise people to have a basic agreement in place.

You find your original marriage certificate

Things are a lot easier if you can find your original marriage certificate. If you can’t and you married in the UK, you can order a new certified copy of your certificate for a small fee. If you got married outside of the UK, however, it can be difficult.

In the worst-case scenario, you can apply for a divorce without your marriage certificate, but you’ll be at the mercy of the court.

And here are a few divorce myths

You can’t avoid the court fee

Time and time again, people comment on our Facebook posts stating that whilst our offer of a low-cost divorce sounds great, you’re always going to have to pay £550 to the courts. This is completely false.

Granted, most people will need to pay some kind of fee when filing for a divorce, but provided they file the necessary documents when applying, it’s likely it’ll be significantly less than the £550 mentioned previously. Find out how much you could save on divorce court fees here.

That you’re automatically divorced after five years

Yes, a surprisingly large number of people think that, after they and their husband/wife have been separated for more than five years, they’re automatically divorced. They’re wrong, of course; how could the courts grant a divorce if they are unaware of the fact that a couple separated!

 That the grounds for divorce will affect the settlement

In all fairness, this one’s understandable; it’s logical to conclude that the party that is deemed to be responsible for the breakdown of the marriage should receive a smaller settlement. As sensible as it may seem, though, it’s not true.

Seeing as how determining exactly what made someone decide their marriage was at an end is certain to be difficult, the courts instead look to divide assets in a way that will allow both parties to maintain the lifestyles they’re used to.

Find out where you can get an online divorce

If you’re eligible for an online divorce, Quickie Divorce can help, and our prices start at just £37! Click here to get in touch with us today.

If you’ve been considering filing for a divorce in the UK, then you’ve probably done some research and will almost certainly have come across the term irreconcilable differences. What you’re unlikely to have found, though, is what this means within the context of a divorce application in the UK.

On the face of things, the term appears to be self-explanatory: they’re differences that have resulted in one party seeking a divorce. Whilst this is technically true, you will find no reference to the term in any of the guides on how to complete documents or where it should be referenced within said paperwork. Many people find this to be confusing. So much so that we’re regularly asked why the documentation Quickie Divorce has prepared for our customers makes no reference to it. Fortunately, the answer is very straightforward.

Irreconcilable differences aren’t used in the UK

In the UK the only legally acceptable ground for divorce is the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. This is proven by citing one of five reasons, specifically:

• That one spouse has committed an act of adultery;
• That one spouse has behaved unreasonably;
• That one spouse has deserted the other;
• That the couple have been living separately for more than two years and both agree to the divorce; or
• That the couple have been living separately for more than five years.

The terms ‘irreconcilable differences’ and ‘irretrievable breakdown of the marriage’ are essentially interchangeable. They both refer to why a divorce is being sought, but one is used in the UK and the other in America. That said, when someone cites irreconcilable differences in America, they do not need to provide any further information. When a Divorce Petition is filed in the UK, additional information is required – particularly if unreasonable behaviour, adultery or desertion are being used to prove that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.

 No-fault divorce is coming

So, the key difference between irreconcilable differences and irretrievable breakdown of the marriage is that it is not necessary to apportion blame with the former. As a result, many people feel that the laws concerning divorce in America are superior to those of the UK and, ultimately, we at Quickie Divorce would agree.

If a couple do not want to wait until they have been separated for two years before filing for a divorce, then one party has to blame the other. This regularly causes disputes, even when the couple had previously agreed. This leads to unnecessarily high legal fees, delayed proceedings and, worst of all, is detrimental to successful co-parenting post-divorce.

Fortunately, it looks like this is about to change. Earlier today (8th February 2019), several outlets have reported that Justice Secretary David Gauke has confirmed that legislation removing the need for one party to blame the other before they have been living separately for several years is due to be introduced in the UK.

How Quickie Divorce can help

If you still want to obtain a divorce but don’t want to wait for the law to change and have not yet been separated from your spouse, we can help. We can prepare examples of unreasonable behaviour that are less likely to cause offence. Alternatively, we can help you prepare a Divorce Petition that, whilst it refers to your spouse’s adultery, is dispassionate and restrained.

To find out more about how Quickie Divorce can help you, get in touch with us today.

Here at Quickie Divorce, we’re regularly asked when it will be possible to obtain a no-fault divorce. Our response is always the same: you can now.

Whilst the media have portrayed upcoming consultations as being arranged so that the government may consider introducing no-fault divorce, this is inaccurate. Rather, they will be discussing the prospect of removing fault from divorce proceedings altogether.

Currently, a couple can obtain a no-fault divorce in the UK if they have been separated for at least two years and both agree that it’s time their marriage came to an end. When a divorce is sought on this basis, there is no need to blame either party meaning that it is, to all extents and purposes, a no-fault divorce.

How two-year-separation differs to fault-based grounds

A divorce petition mentioning adultery or unreasonable behaviour must include details such as where and when adultery took place or precise details of poor conduct. In order for a divorce to remain straightforward, the accused spouse must agree that the information provided is accurate. Something which often causes problems.

With two-year-separation, far less information is required. The only piece of factual information that will be needed is the date on which the couple separated. This is, of course, significantly less likely to cause offence to the party receiving the application meaning that divorces using this ground usually proceed without much trouble.

All in all, when it’s possible to use two-year-separation, Quickie Divorce would strongly recommend that couples do. The only exception would be when the couple do not agree to the divorce or if they’ve been separated for five years or more as consent is no longer required and this provides the party that applies for the divorce with additional security.

How do you determine your date of separation?

Working out when they separated is often the biggest problem for couples that want to use non-fault-based reasons for their divorce. Fortunately, all the couple need to do is agree a date between them and can even, within reason, approximate. This leaves only one question: when are a couple actually living separately?

It may seem strange, but a couple are not necessarily still together if they live in the same house. Provided they sleep in separate bedrooms, prepare and eat their meals separately, avoid each other whenever possible etc. then they are, in legal terms separated.

Don’t forget to check if you can avoid court fees

If this article has persuaded you to file for divorce, you should check if you need to pay court fees here.

Then, once you’re ready to proceed, you can save even more money by utilising the services of the UK’s original and most trusted divorce provider, Quickie Divorce.

For many years, same-sex couples were unable to marry and were able to become civil partners only. This changed in 2014 when the Marriage (Same-Sex Couples) Act 2013 came into force and couples are now legally allowed to elope regardless of their spouse’s gender. Couples that wished to express their devotion to one another and cement their legal rights had no other option for nigh on a decade, however, and many people query whether Quickie Divorce can help end civil partnerships as a result. Well, we can! Here’s why.

The process of ending a marriage is, ultimately, identical to the process of ending a civil partnership. The forms that need to be used are the same, the evidence that will need to be provided is the same and – just as a divorce is easier when both parties agree – it’s a much simpler process when both spouses want their partnership dissolved. The courts will also request a copy of the civil partnership document (rather than the marriage certificate) and a £550 filing fee (though you can find out if you can have this reduced here). The only real difference that we tend to make people aware of is that, due to outdated laws, it can be difficult to use adultery as the reason they’re requesting their partnership is legally ended.

English and Welsh law doesn’t recognise same-sex adultery

Yes, that’s right: the laws haven’t been updated in so long that, as far as the courts are concerned, adultery can only take place between two individuals of the opposite sex. For obvious reasons, using this ground is often difficult for same-sex couples.

Under such circumstances, the spouse filing for the divorce can rely on unreasonable behaviour and their partner’s actions can used as an example. What many people find frustrating is that they’ll also need to provide several other examples of unreasonable behaviour. They, quite reasonably, feel that their spouse having been unfaithful should be sufficient. We’d agree but – whilst we know that some judges have accepted petitions citing just one example of unreasonable behaviour – the law is subjective, and the only way to ensure that an application reliant on behaviour succeeds is to cite several examples.

How to prepare examples of unreasonable behaviour

We know all too well that thinking of examples can be difficult, but we’ve found that there are a few examples that most people can truthfully cite. Here are a few articles we’ve put together that outline these:

Five common examples of unreasonable behaviour

Five more examples of unreasonable behaviour

Another five examples of unreasonable behaviour

If you need some extra help

Remember that Quickie Divorce can help you end your civil partnership – and, if you both agree, we can save you thousands of pounds in solicitor’s fees.

Want to find out more? Contact Quickie Divorce today.

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to start divorce proceedings in England and Wales:

1. Talk to your spouse

If you and your spouse both want a divorce, getting one is much easier. When one party does not want the marriage to end, they can delay or even prevent one entirely so it’s advisable that you talk to your husband/wife before doing anything.

1. Find/replace your marriage certificate

You won’t be able to begin the divorce process without your marriage certificate. This means you’re either going to need to find it or, if you’ve lost it, replace it.

Luckily, if you were married in the UK, replacing your marriage certificate is pretty easy. It can be tricky if you married abroad, but is still possible.

If you did marry outside of the UK, getting your marriage certificate replaced will be a lot easier if you used a wedding planner; they’ll probably be able to contact the venue/registrar for you. Failing this, the nation’s British embassy should be able to help.

1.  Download a D8 form

The divorce process officially starts when one spouse submits a completed D8 form (also known as a Divorce Petition) to the court. You can download a blank D8 form here.

1. Complete your D8 form

Once you’ve downloaded a D8 form, you’re going to need to complete it. This is largely straightforward but, before you finalise everything, it’s advisable that you and your spouse agree some of the information you need to provide.

1. Agree your reasons for divorce

Usually, if a divorce is delayed, it’s because the spouse that received the application for divorce wasn’t happy with the reasons provided on the petition.

If you’ve been separated for two years or more, this is unlikely to be a problem. All you’ll need to do is agree the date on which you separated. If you haven’t and you need to rely on adultery or unreasonable behaviour, it’s a different story and you’ll need to provide more detail.

Fortunately, by simply discussing what’ll be featured in the document, a lot of these problems can be avoided.

You can find important information on adultery here and important information on unreasonable behaviour here.

1. Submit your D8 to court

Once it’s been completed, you should submit your D8 form to the court along with your marriage certificate and court fee. You should check if you need to pay the court fees beforehand, though, as it’s likely you won’t need to pay the full £550 and may not need to pay a penny under certain circumstances.

It’s important to keep track of your finances so, after you’ve decided to pursue a divorce, determining how you can ensure it costs as little as possible should be your first consideration.

The overall cost of divorce differs greatly depending on circumstances. If the divorce is uncontested, the process is going to be straightforward and therefore significantly cheaper. If there is disagreement of any kind – such as the division of finances or what brought about the separation – it can become very expensive, particularly when solicitors become involved.

Ultimately, then, it’s better to agree everything possible before proceedings. Doing so will not only keep your costs down, but will also make the process less adversarial and, as a direct result, easier and cheaper for all involved.

Here are our top tips on how to save money on your divorce and make the process easier.

Agree your reasons for divorce

Agreeing your grounds before starting the divorce process is something we strongly advocate. Doing so will guarantee that the party responding to the application doesn’t get a nasty surprise; believe us when we say that when people suddenly find out that they’re being blamed for the end of the marriage, they don’t tend to react well.

If you’ve not yet been living separately for two years and need to utilise a fault-based ground, talk things over with your spouse and agree your reasons beforehand. Should you be using unreasonable behaviour, remember that your reasons don’t have to be severe. In the event you’ll be filing on adultery, agree on the vital details like when the person filing found out, how they found out and when you began living separate lives. By being prepared, you’ll greatly enhance the prospect of your divorce running smoothly.

Decide on how you’ll divide your assets

After you’ve decided on your reasons, you and your spouse should try and agree how you’re going to divide your various assets. If you can do this between yourselves, you’ll make a significant saving as instructing a solicitor to negotiate on your behalf can become very expensive, very quickly, particularly if the matter progresses to a court hearing.

If you’re not able to reach an agreement and need some assistance, it’s worth attending mediation rather than immediately heading to a solicitor’s office as it’s significantly cheaper and has a high rate of success. Be careful, though, as this settlement is extremely important, and you should ensure you’re getting your fair share.

Check if you need to pay court fees

Finally, you should check if you can get help with the court fees for divorce.

The courts request a fee of £550 be paid when a Divorce Petition is filed, but many people don’t need to pay this fee at all – and the vast majority of those that do have to pay a fee don’t have to pay the full amount, either!

If you’re claiming one of several specific benefits and have less than £3,000 in savings, you won’t need to pay any fee to the court. Additionally, if you bring home less than £5,085 per month (more if you have dependents), you’ll pay less than the full £550 requested by the courts.

How Quickie Divorce can help

If both you and your spouse agree to a divorce, you can save more money by using Quickie Divorce’s services. We’ll complete all of the divorce forms you need for just £67, meaning they’re guaranteed to be completely free of errors and that you won’t need to waste hundreds of pounds refiling them or on a solicitor.

Get in touch with us today. Alternatively, you can buy our Personalised Service – and get all of your divorce papers completed for you for just £67 by clicking here.

Just one year after they tied the knot, rap royalty Cardi B and Offset have split and publicly announced their separation. Cardi took to Instagram to tell her followers the news, explaining “Things just haven’t been working out between us for a long time and it’s nobody’s fault. I guess we grew out of love, but we’re not together anymore. I don’t know. It might take time to get a divorce and I’m gonna always have a lot of love for him because he is my daughter’s father.” Though their relationship was unique in the way it was played out with the press, I’m sure many couples can sympathise with the feelings the pair might be going through and the decisions they’ll be facing in how to move forward with their finances and their daughter, Kulture. In her message to her fans, Cardi emphasised the fact she wouldn’t be filing for divorce straight away and would instead choose to be separated for a while – a choice many couples make initially. Today we’re going to look at why couples might make this decision, and whether it’s better to divorce as soon as you’ve made your mind up that the relationship is over.

Separating

Legally separating in the UK is similar to a divorce and it allows you to live apart while remaining married. Some couples chose to do this informally and don’t bother recording their separation in a legal way, one partner simply moves out of the marital home and comes to an informal financial and social agreement with the other about the childcare and other assorted plans moving forward. This process is different if you want to be legally seen as ‘separated’ in the eyes of the court. To be legally separated you need to file a separation petition with the court and come to a ‘separation agreement’, a binding legal document that lays out the financial implications.

You can apply for this using the same reasons you might seek a divorce, like adultery or unreasonable behaviour, but the difference is that you aren’t required to prove the marriage has broken down irretrievably. You might want a legal separation rather than a divorce for religious reasons, if you’ve been married for under the required length of time for a divorce or if you just want to take some time and space from your partner to figure out want you want to do next. The process is very similar, including filing your D8 form and sending two copies to your local divorce centre. Getting a legal separation costs £365.

Divorcing

You can get a divorce in England or Wales if you’ve been married at for least a year and your relationship has permanently broken down. If you’re looking to divorce after a legal separation, you’ll find that much of the process is very similar. You’ll have to submit a divorce petition, the same form, over again and pay an additional court fee of £550. Before you apply, you should have worked out with your spouse the childcare arrangements for your family moving forward. Who will look after your children now you’re not living in the same house, and what are the associated child maintenance payments for them. After a divorce, you two are officially free to date and marry other people and in the eyes of the law your partnership is completely over.

You also need to sort out the division of your finances and how your money and property will be allocated between the two of you. The fastest way to get a divorce always starts at home, so we typically recommend that you talk to your spouse about the kind of separation you’re seeking out and what it will look like on a daily basis for you and your children, your finances etc. Quickie Divorce have managed to bring the average time for a divorce down to 12 weeks for our clients, and that’s partly down to the importance of mediation and how we use it.

What’s right for you

Whether you look to divorce or legally separate will be down to the particular circumstances of your break up. If you’re religious and the concept of ‘divorce’ isn’t compatible with that, you can get a legal separation and benefit from lots of the important elements of divorce but not have to compromise on your beliefs. Likewise, if you want some structured physical and financial separation from your spouse, but you’re not confident that you’ll never want to try to work your issues out in the future then a separation agreement might also be right for you. For most couples, making the decision to split is final and they might have even tried a trial separation before – if that’s the case, taking the plunge and divorcing is probably the right step. We offer a range of packages for all budgets and needs, so take a look at our services and give us a call today for free and impartial advice.

When filing for a divorce, the party that submits the required documents must pay the courts a fee of £550 – a significant fee, particularly when you consider that all that it covers are administrative costs and that the applicant will not receive any support from court staff in return. Fortunately, if you’re disabled, you may not need to pay this fee at all.

If you receive any of these benefits, you won’t need to pay court fees

If you’re disabled and want to file for a divorce, the easiest way to avoid the court fees is to apply for a remission on the basis that you receive certain state benefits. Anyone who receives any of the following benefits is exempt from all court fees:

• Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
• Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support
• Universal Credit
• Pension Credit (Guarantee Credit)

If you receive any of the benefits listed above and have less than £3,000 in savings (this increases to £16,000 if you’re 61 or older), you will not need to pay any money to the courts when filing for a divorce.

How to avoid court fees for divorce if you receive other benefits

If you don’t receive any of the benefits listed above, you can still be exempt from the court fees if you have a low income and, if you are in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or a Personal Independence Payment it’s unlikely you’ll need to pay any fees to the court.

Anyone that files for a divorce and whose monthly income is less than £1,085 before tax is exempt from court fees and neither Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payments need to be included when you calculate your monthly income. As a result, the vast majority of people who rely on disability benefits as their main form of income will be exempt from paying court fees. 

Just so you know, the amount you can earn before tax and still receive a full remission increases to £1,245 if you live with your partner, though you’ll need to include their income when calculating your monthly earnings. You can also add £245 to this figure for each dependent child that lives with you.

How to reduce the court for divorce if you have a low income

Even if your monthly income is too large for a full remission, you can still have the court’s fee reduced provided it’s less than £5,085 or £5,245 if you live with your partner. Again, you can add an additional £245 to this figure for each child you have.

Once you’ve calculated your monthly income, you can work out what you’ll need to pay to the courts by deducting £1,085 (£1,245 if you live with your partner) plus £245 for each child that lives with you from it. You should then round this figure down to the nearest £10 and then divide this by two: this will be the fee you’ll need to pay the court.

If this article is unclear or you have any other questions about the court fee for divorce or anything else, get in touch with one of our advisers today.

If you want to run a successful business in 2018, chances are you’ll be looking to embrace technology. Technological advances have brought us from computers that take an entire room to store to tiny handheld devices within 80 years, and its revolutionised the way we do business. You probably take for granted your ability to store data about your clients, your staff and all of your company finances – you might even have your own server dedicated solely to your office and maintaining all of your critical files somewhere safe and close by. Though technology is regularly doing incredible things for us, it’s also still shockingly easy for our devices to crash and erase years of work. Ranging from natural disasters like fires and floods to human error with an accidental file deletion, your server is not infallible and recovering your data after it has stopped working can be very costly.

The amount of tiny interconnected pieces of machinery that come together to store your terabytes of information is mind-boggling, and something as simple as a dropped computer tower could cause serious issues for your business. Hard drives can be plagued by an array of software and hardware issues from head crashes, where your read and write heads malfunction and render your sensitive data an unreadable mess, to water damage from a natural disaster like a flood or leak. The worst part is that no company can ever completely guarantee a full recovery of every important file that you were holding on to.

How to back up

So what can you do to guard against data recovery issues before they even happen? The best and most simple answer is to create and maintain a full back-up of your data – and it couldn’t be more simple. We recommend using more than one type of backup, because sometimes one can be wiped out along with the original copy and nothing could be more frustrating than that! There are many overly complicated guides and how-to’s online that recommend you use their specific brand of software, but the simplest ways can sometimes be the best. You should create a physical backup of your businesses important data by storing copies of your files on hard drives, tape drives or any kind of storage device connected to your network. You can make several of these and store one of them offsite so that the risk of something happening in your office and you losing absolutely everything is mitigated.

You should create a second, remote back up by utilising the cloud, which you probably already use to an extent for running some of your systems and software over the internet. Backing up to the cloud means you have another copy of your data secured offsite but this copy can be accessed remotely using just an internet connection. It effectively travels with you wherever you go and adds an extra layer of protection when used in conjunction with a physical copy.

The typical way to maintain a backup system is by creating your initial backups of all the data you want to keep safe, and then monitoring and updating that copy when things change. It’s up to you what data that is, or how regularly it’s updated, but at the very least you should duplicated the information that you need to keep your business running on a daily basis. We know that for some people, this guide may have come a little too late and they may have already lost valuable data – but moving forward you can avoid this pain by following the two simple backup strategies. Until then, give us a call and we can recover what you’ve lost

Family law group ‘Resolution’, which was formerly known as the Solicitors Family Law Association (SFLA), is an organisation of 6,500 family lawyers and other professionals who strive to take a constructive approach to family law. They put an emphasis on non-confrontational methods of mediation and campaign actively for improvements to the family justice system that would make things easier and less emotionally taxing for families going through difficult times. They are currently championing a campaign called ‘Good Divorce Week’ based around raising awareness in different methods parents can use to make their separation as easy as possible on their children. Conflict can have a huge impact on a child’s wellbeing, and Resolution have made it part of their mission statement to limit its effect. A judgement was published this week that highlighted the importance of the campaign.

VW v BH

The case, referred do as VW v BH, was described by Her Honour Judge Lynn Roberts as ‘extraordinary’. Official figures have quoted a contested divorce rate of only 20 trials a year, and this case was of these rare breeds. Going on for three days, the wife ‘VW’ filed for divorce against her husband ‘BH’ after he admitted cheating on her in their marriage for 22 years. He then made the extraordinary decision to contest the divorce in court, forcing their daughter into an emotionally brutal cross examination and causing a truly acrimonious split. The trail was initially slated to begin on September 5th but was adjourned because BH has apparently been attacked the night before – something HHJ Roberts admits she has of the truthfulness behind. She is quoted saying she was 'not satisfied that Mr H had been attacked as he said. I do not know'.

BH insisted that all of wife’s referenced witnesses attend the trial, and is said to have questioned them at length and in some questionable detail, Judge Roberts goes on to say ‘if I had not intervened, would have questioned each of them for very long periods of time... It was a difficult and painful experience, in my judgment, for each of Ms W's witnesses and for Ms W to observe. His cross-examination of his daughter, M, was particularly excruciating'. Apparently, BH cross examined his own daughter in an excruciating and unnecessary display where he is said to have asked her questions about sexually transmitted infections such as herpes.

The Judge’s ruling

Judge Roberts was scathing in her indictment of BH’s behaviour, referring to him as a ‘deeply dishonest man’ and admitting that she did not believe him in almost everything he had said: 'I do not believe him about any of the matters in issue in this case. His attitudes displayed in these proceedings are those which were common 40 years ago, not today. This whole awful case has been so that he can delude people into thinking his conduct was not as shameful as it indeed is'.

She added: 'Mr H's whole case has indeed been completely futile, a huge waste of money, a tragic destruction of family relationships, and all, in my opinion, to satisfy Mr H's own vanity and need to be in control and for the other reasons I have suggested earlier. All he had to do was to not contest the divorce, a divorce he wanted, as virtually everybody else in the country does, and this couple would have had their decree nisi last year, the various relationships would, in all likelihood, have been well on the way to healing by now and the money saved for the family.'

Eventually, VW was granted the requested Decree Nisi and BH was forced to pay her legal costs in both prosecuting her petition and the defence of his own. He was forced to pay the costs on an indemnity basis, rather than a standard basis, which means the costs don’t need to be proportionate and will always be much more favourable to the receiving party than an award of the Standard Basis. The ruling was apparently found 'because of the totally unnecessary proceedings that have taken place, a huge amount of costs which have been made much more expensive than they needed to because of decisions taken by Mr H'.

Avoiding these issues

Nightmare cases like this one, rare though they are, can tear families apart easily and leave children carrying hostility towards one or both parents for years after. In an ideal situation, all couples would divorce on an amicable basis and with the least possible amount of finger pointing and conflict, but too often the way the divorce courts in the UK work mean this is difficult to do. England and Wales still have no option for a ‘no fault’ divorce, meaning every divorce must have a petitioner and a respondent. Effectively, one person must file from divorce from the other because their behaviour is too intolerable to be expected to live with or because they have deserted them.

The respondent can often feel put out or betrayed when they receive the completed petition in the post and see examples of their behaviour listed by their spouse, followed by explanations of how depressed or lonely it made them feel. It can naturally be a very difficult process to remove the emotion from, and couples who might have started to divorce amicably could find things sour as examples of unreasonable behaviour begin to appear. Many couples use some form of mediation service or attend counselling either separately or together to maintain open channels of communication and keep things on an even footing. This can be really useful, but a great starting point is to just choose to complete your petition together where both spouses can see what’s being filed and can explain to each other why the particular examples have been chosen. Some couples even choose for the respondent to write their own examples of their unreasonable behaviour so relations between both parties don’t become strained, but that would be your choice.

Going through a divorce will always be a difficult time for a couple, particularly when there are children involved, but maintaining an amicable relationship can help streamline the process for all parties. Quickie Divorce has helped hundreds of thousands of uncontested couples separate, and our Personalised Plus Service package even includes a Clean Break Agreement to guarantee that financial deals you and your ex-spouse reach are enforceable by law.

The UK divorce rate has hovered around 40-50% for several years now, and all of us know couples who separated, often to the benefit of their relationship with each other as well as their children. Despite how commonplace it is, there’s still a huge amount of misinformation around the process and at Quickie Divorce we try to de-mystify as much of this as possible. It’s an important moment in your life and for your family, and the way we see it - the more straight-forward we can make things for you the less stressed out you’ll be. That’s why we offer free and confidential advice six days a week over the phone from our team of case managers as part of even our cheapest package. Today we’re looking at the court costs associated with divorce. We’re going to outline exactly what they are, why they need to be paid and what you can do if they’re not an affordable option for you at this time. Hopefully by the end you’ll have a better idea of how the whole process works.

How much do they cost?

If you’re divorcing in England and Wales, the courts require a fee for the processing of your petition. The ‘court cost’ will be paid to your local court and will cover the administrative cost of them processing your divorce from start to finish for you. It does not mean the cost of it being heard and fought in court, as some people believe, so even if your divorce is uncontested it will still need to be paid. The fee is currently set at £550 and is often the main obstacle for couples seeking to officially separate since the price has been steadily on the rise. The cost will be paid up front by the petitioner, this is the person who instigates the divorce and files the petition, but you will have an opportunity later on in the process to claim for the divorce fees from the respondent – more on that later

The £550 fee is the only fee you have to pay to be officially ‘divorced’ but we recommend paying the extra £50 court fee to gain a Consent Order too. A consent order is a formal statement saying that the financial agreement you and your ex-spouse made is final and bound by law – without one, they can take you to court at a later date if you come into more money to ask for a bigger settlement. Our Personal Plus Service comes with a consent order as standard to secure your future finances and keep them where they belong, in your bank account.

What if I can’t pay?

If you are on a low-income or if you’re unemployed, you can apply to the government for a remission in the cost of your fee. You will often end up paying a much-reduced amount, or no fee at all, so don’t worry if you can’t get £550 together.

If your divorce is fault-based and you are filing because of adultery, desertion or unreasonable behaviour you can ask in court for your spouse to pay your costs. In cases where your spouse does not agree to the divorce, there will be a special hearing after the decree nisi is pronounced to look specifically at the costs of the divorce. Here, you can argue that they should pay the costs and you should not, usually because you aren’t able to pay because they are too high. The judge will assess how much they should pay after a thorough examination of your finances and can even order it to be spread over instalments if appropriate. They can look at court costs as well as any and all other fees associated with the divorce, like solicitor’s fees, and will assess how ‘reasonable’ they are. The judge has guidelines as to what a reasonable fee is, depending on the area you live in and the locality of the court.

Thought for many it can be the right choice to pursue their ex-spouse for their legal fees, it can cause issues between you and they might actually even withdraw their consent at the decree nisi stage, making it more difficult for the process to be completed. If you want the divorce to go through as quickly and easily as possible, and you can afford the fees without too much trouble, its recommended that you don’t pursue them formally for the court fee. Informally, if you can come to an arrangement with them before attending court where you split the costs 50/50 then things will progress smoothly and fairly.

Court costs are actually a simple element of the divorce process, and luckily all of our packages come with free advice on any financial aspect as a consequence of divorce. We can instruct you on how to apply for the government court cost remission and provide you with your professionally drafted consent order or ‘Clean Break Order’. Remember - Clean Break Agreements are the only way to guarantee that financial deals you and your ex-spouse reach are enforceable by law. Clean Break Orders ensure that your ex-partner cannot go back to court to ask for more money or assets post-divorce. Clean Break Agreements help tie up financial matters such as maintenance and division of property, savings, shares, policies, and pensions. They can even settle child maintenance provided the terms are agreed by both parties and the court.

Still confused about divorce? Request a call back today for free, impartial advice from our expert team.

One of the most frequent questions we’re asked at Quickie Divorce is ‘how long will it take for me to be divorced?’ Separating couples want their time in court to go as quickly as possible, but some divorce providers can only manage to quote a 22-week average length of process. Because of our years of expertise and experienced case managers, the average length of a divorce with us is just 12 weeks! We’re one of the fastest ways to get a divorce in the UK, and we take a few key considerations into account when we’re progressing petitions that make things easier and quicker for you. The fastest way to get a divorce always starts at home, so we recommend that you talk to your spouse about the kind of separation you’re seeking out and what it generally looks like for you and your children, your finances etc. As long as you have both had an informal chat and share a general idea of your future, we can move forward in a strong position. Don’t forget – you also need to have been married for at least one year before you begin proceedings.

Work together

Keeping both you and your partner on the same page during divorce proceedings is the easiest way to expedite the entire process. It’s often easier to put the emotionally draining aspects of the divorce on the backburner if both of you are focused on the logical things like the financial and material objects the court will be able to rule over. Maintaining a line of dialogue between both camps should keep misunderstandings to a minimum, something that has tripped up many formerly amicable couples over time. For example, if you’re filing for divorce and using unreasonable behaviour as your grounds you will need to list several examples of times your spouse behaved like a ‘bad’ partner and how that made you feel. For some people, these personal examples and admissions of feelings of loneliness and sadness can be difficult to talk about and to read. Many couples choose to have the respondent list their own examples of unreasonable behaviour to limit this effect, or they sit down together and work on a list they can agree on rather than have the respondent simply open it in their mail and react emotionally alone.

Plan your future

Making a list of your shared and separate finances will speed up the process, and if you can come to an agreement between yourselves about how they might be divided in the divorce you could also save money on costly mediation. Take into account your house and your children, who will be their primary caregiver now? Regardless of whether you choose to apply for joint custody, one of you will probably end up paying child maintenance to the partner who earns less so having a frank conversation about that as early as possible will save trouble later on. You can begin your divorce before these arraignments have been finalised, so don’t let that hold you back from filing. Many people use the time it takes for the court to process their divorce as an opportunity to negotiate their settlement. When filing your divorce petition, the temptation might be to choose your nearest divorce centre but wait times can vary hugely around the country. Some centres might be inundated with petitions and this will slow down your divorce greatly, but we can help you find one that isn’t too busy with other work and give you an edge.

All being well, you and your spouse are still on the same page and when they receive your petition in the post they will send off their Acknowledgement of Service Form promptly. If they do that, you’ve trimmed off up to 21 days from the process compared to the length of time it would have taken if they chose not to respond. Just eight weeks later, a judge will hopefully look at your case and grant you your Decree Nisi. Six weeks after this, you will apply for your Decree Absolute and have your official certificate confirming your divorce and newfound single status! You can see that there are many important things to consider when you’re looking to divorce as quickly as possible, and with twenty years of experience helping couples separate our tips and tricks can shave off months of time from the process.

So what are you waiting for? Call us today to get started