Obtaining a divorce can be fairly straight forward providing both parties agree that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and they have been married for over 1 year.
If the marriage has broken down irretrievably the law states that one of five facts causing the breakdown needs to be established and they are as follows:-
One party has committed adultery
One party has behaved in such a way that it is unreasonable to expect the parties to continue to live together
One party has deserted the other for two years or more (this must be for a continuous period)
The parties have lived separately for two years or more and you both agree to the divorce
The parties have lived separately for five years or more. If this fact is established it is irrelevant whether the parties agree or not.
The divorce petition needs to contain evidence of one of the five facts and will be completed by the person who is bringing the proceedings who is called the Petitioner. The person being served with the Petition is called the Respondent.
If the children of the family are under the age of 18 or are in full time education, the Petitioner will need to complete a Statement of Arrangements for Children which is submitted to the Court with the Petition. This statement contained details of the children, where the children are to live, details of access to the children, where they go to school and any special needs they may have.
It is always better for both parties to agree to the arrangements for the children so the Court does not need to get involved.
Once the Respondent has returned the Acknowledgement of Services to the Court and providing he or she agrees to the contents of the documents the Petitioner can set the matter down for trial by way of special procedure. This is attended to by the Court and provided both are in agreement neither party need attend Court. The Court will then make a date for the decree nisi to be pronounced and the Petitioner can apply for the Decree to be made Absolute six weeks and one day from the date of the decree nisi.
If there are any outstanding issues such the Respondent defending the divorce or residence or contact issues relating to the children then these will need to be resolved.