The new divorce laws have been in place now for over a year, their arrival being greeted with no little media attention, all of which focussed solely upon the arrival of ‘no fault’ divorces; and whilst it is right to say that the change in the allow allowed couples to divorce without seeking to lay blame at the door of their spouse, that is not the only change that has been made.
The new divorce laws have been in place now for over a year, their arrival being greeted with no little media attention, all of which focussed solely upon the arrival of ‘no fault’ divorces; and whilst it is right to say that the change in the allow allowed couples to divorce without seeking to lay blame at the door of their spouse, that is not the only change that has been made.
Several other significant changes to divorce have also occurred, but those changes did not receive the same level of interest by the media, and remain unknown to the general public. In an attempt to de-mystify the process and to make it more accessible language has been updated. Now we have a divorce application, rather than a divorce petition and an applicant rather than a petitioner. Latin has also been dropped, with the court making a conditional divorce order where they had once made a decree nisi and a final divorce order instead of a decree absolute.
Perhaps one of the most significant changes is that both parties to the marriage can jointly apply for a divorce. In practice, our experience is that most divorces begin with one party applying for a divorce; however, the law does allow for both parties to make a joint application. Divorcing couples who wish to successfully co-parent children of the marriage moving forwards may chose to jointly apply for divorce, as evidence for their children that the end of the marriage was amicable and the decision to divorce mutual.
When a couple wish to jointly apply for a divorce they are no longer the Applicant and the Respondent – they are Applicant 1 and Applicant 2 – and the application for a conditional divorce order and, ultimately, a final divorce order can be made.
A joint application for divorce can become a sole application, but sole applications cannot be converted into a joint application. Divorces do not take place in a vacuum and often other issues, such as finances or child arrangements, have to be addressed. It is at those times when there can be disagreements. For example, matrimonial finances are often dealt with during the divorce process and if that were to lead to a disagreement between joint applicants then a party may wish to make a joint application into a sole application for divorce. An application to shift from a joint to a sole application can only be made at the conditional divorce order or final divorce order stage. At the conditional stage, the applicant must send a copy of the conditional order application to the other party at the same time as the application is made. At the final order stage, 14 days’ notice of the intention to convert the application to a sole application must be given.
Our head of the private family department, Zoe Tansley, said ‘When couples decide to separate and divorce there are a number of big decisions that have to be made. At Freers Askew Bunting Solicitors we have a large team of highly skilled solicitors who are committed to assisting clients and who provide tailored advice to ensure that our clients are advised as to the options that are available to them.’
