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It’s one of the most common divorce-related searches entered into Google every day so it was only logical that one of the first posts we wrote for this blog was about how people can speed up their divorces.

On reflection, though, this post focused on the beginning of the process and, having gone back and reviewed it, we think there are few extra tips we can add that’ll help you finalise your divorce as quickly as possible:

Choose the right Divorce Centre

Whilst this particular tip actually relates to the start of the process, recent changes to the structuring of the UK’s courts has made the task of discovering which one is best positioned to process your divorce quickly much, much more feasible.

Previously, multiple county courts throughout England and Wales dealt with divorce applications. This recently changed, however, and now only a handful of dedicated Divorce Centres handle new applications. As a result, you can contact each one, ask them about their current caseloads and determine which will be able to process your application the quickest.

Here are the 11 Divorce Centres currently active in England and Wales:

• Bury St Edmunds Divorce Unit
• Bradford County Court
• Durham County Court
• Doncaster Justice Centre North
• East Midlands Divorce Unit
• South West Divorce Unit
• West Midlands Divorce Unit
• Newport County Court
• Port Talbot Justice Centre
• Wrexham County Court
• North West Divorce Unit (Liverpool County Court)

Ensure you complete the correct second stage documents

As part of any divorce application, the courts should send the Petitioner copies of the second set of documents they’ll need to complete but, as there as several different versions of the D80 form, it’s important that you know that the one you’ll need to complete will depend on the reasons you gave for your divorce with your Divorce Petition. Furthermore, the courts do make mistakes so we’d strongly recommend you double check you’ve completed the right one before posting it back to them.

Here are the different types of D80 form and the reasons each corresponds to below:

D80A – Adultery

D80B – Unreasonable Behaviour

D80C – Desertion

D80D – Two-Year Separation with Consent

D80E – Five-Year Separation

You can check which form you have by checking its title (you’ll find this at the top of the page) as the reason for divorce will be featured here. Alternatively, the form’s number (i.e. D80A, D80B etc.) will appear on the bottom of each page of the document.

It may sound like overkill if the courts have sent you the paperwork but, as we’ve said previously, they do make mistakes and, even if they are ultimately responsible, completing and submitting the wrong paperwork will result in your divorce taking a few weeks longer than it should so we think it’s worth sparing the five minutes it’ll take to check.

Make sure you’ve waited six weeks and one day before applying for your Decree Absolute

It’s all too common for people to become overexcited following them having discovered that they’ve been granted a Decree Nisi and for this to result in them applying for their Decree Absolute and looking to finalise their divorce prematurely. Remember, you should not apply until six weeks and one day after the date on which your Decree Nisi was granted.

One more important tip: when you complete the form you’ll need to submit to the court to get your Decree Absolute, make sure the date you put down is at least six weeks and one day after your Decree Nisi’s date. We regularly hear from people who waited until six weeks and a day had passed before returning this document to the court but, as they’d completed the form previously and written down the date on which they’d done this rather than the date they intended to submit it, their application had been rejected causing a delay that could easily have been avoided.

Conclusion

By following these simple steps, you’ll go a long way towards ensuring that your divorce is processed as a quickly as possible.

Alternatively, for a moderate fee, you can employ the experts in quick divorces to handle everything for you.