To obtain a divorce in England and Wales, you will need to state that your marriage has irretrievably broken down. The basis for divorce changed fundamentally in 2022, moving to a ‘no fault’ regime where an application for divorce will not attribute blame to either party. The ability to contest a divorce is now limited to disputing the jurisdiction of the court of England and Wales to hear the proceedings or grounds that the marriage is not valid or has already legally ended.

You will need to decide whether to apply for divorce individually (in which case there is a process for the other spouse to acknowledge service of the proceedings and confirm whether they intend to defend them on the grounds above) or make a joint application with your spouse.

Once the application has been made, there is a 20-week reflection period before the divorce can progress to a Conditional Order (previously ‘Decree Nisi’), and a further period of 6 weeks and 1 day between a Conditional Order being granted and being able to apply for a Final Order ending your marriage (previously ‘Decree Absolute’).

It is possible to apply for divorce online, and the procedure has been streamlined, but applying for a divorce is the gateway into either spouse making financial claims. The court of England and Wales has wide reaching and discretionary powers to redistribute assets and liabilities between divorcing spouses and make provision for financial support, and this will need to be navigated alongside the divorce process. For international clients with connections to other jurisdictions, early decisions must be taken on which country/ies have the ability to determine these issues, as well as arrangements for children, what remedies may be available to either spouse in these countries and how these interrelate. Hughes Fowler Carruthers has extensive experience in providing accessible advice on complex cross-border and domestic issues arising when a marriage breaks down.