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Are you and your spouse considering a divorce? It’s only natural to have lots of questions about how the legal process works and what your options are, especially if you have children to think of.
We appreciate that going through a divorce can be an emotionally vulnerable and difficult time for both you and your family and here at Quality Solicitors Charlesworth Nicholl, we want to help make this journey as smooth as possible.
So, we’ve compiled some of the most common questions we hear from our clients and given some clear, legal-jargon-free answers to help anyone considering a divorce.
What is the first step of a divorce?
The first legal step of a divorce is making a divorce application. This is when one or both spouses officially apply for a divorce which involves filling in a number of forms and providing certain documentation including your marriage certificate. We always recommend getting in touch with a family law solicitor as early as possible so we can help advise you based on your current situation and the individual circumstances of your relationship.
Before you start divorce proceedings, ideally you should discuss your divorce with your partner to ensure that you both want to go ahead with the divorce and try to scope out some plans for financial and child arrangements in advance.
While we understand this isn’t always possible, being able to have some discussions before beginning the divorce process can make the process less complicated and can help move you towards your new chapter more quickly.
What are the grounds for divorce?
Based on a 2022 reform in the Divorce law, the only grounds you need to provide for divorce is the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage (i.e that you have drifted apart and are no longer right for each other). This introduced the concept of a no-fault divorce where couples can divorce without necessarily pinning the blame on one party or fitting certain separation criteria.
Under the new law you do not necessarily need to provide reasons for your divorce, such as adultery, to have valid grounds for divorce as the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage by itself is considered a perfectly valid reason. However, one important requirement to be aware of is that you need to be married for at least 1 year before you are eligible to seek a divorce.
How long does it take to get divorced?
We are often asked this, but unfortunately the divorce timeline can be difficult to provide a precise estimate for as it usually depends on the complexity of your divorce and your unique personal circumstances. We usually advise our clients that divorces usually take at least 7 months to resolve fully, but this may be longer depending on how amicable your divorce is, and the complexity of any child custody or financial arrangement discussions.
How do I know what I am entitled to from my divorce?
During a divorce, a lot of the discussions involve working out this very question! So again, this will be something that will depend largely on your personal circumstances, the number of children you both have, and the amount of assets (houses, cars, investments etc) that you collectively hold.
The starting point is usually to aim for a 50:50 split of assets, however this is not always the best option as it does not take into account earning potential and the needs of any dependent children in the marriage, as whoever is looking after them for the majority of the time will need to be financially able to care for them. So, it’s important to be aware that a fair split isn’t necessarily an equal one!
Feel free to get in touch with our team for more personalised guidance!
How do we resolve financial and child arrangements?
Alongside discussing this initially with your partner, your solicitor can help mediate using various methods to work out a fair agreement. As finances and children are important matters, these often form the main areas of discussion and debate during a divorce.
If these matters are not able to be resolved using mediation or negotiation via solicitors it may be necessary to decide the case in court as a last resort, where your solicitor will help represent and advocate for your case.
Ready to start your new chapter?
We hope you’ve found our answers useful and that they have helped demystify some of the common questions that many of our clients come to us with early in their divorce journey.
While considering a divorce may seem a daunting prospect, here at QualitySolicitors Charlesworth Nicholl we have a team of experienced family law experts to help guide you through your divorce and help you begin your new chapter. We offer a free initial assessment to give expert advice right away and begin to help you work out the best way forward for you and your family. Simply give us a call on 01363 507097 or fill in our contact form here.