The procedure on an undefended divorce is essentially a five-stage process:
1 The party taking the divorce proceedings (the ‘petitioner’) issues (i.e. files with the court) the divorce petition together with supporting documents. The court will process the papers and send copies to the other party, along with an acknowledgement of service form.
2 The other party (the ‘respondent’) completes and files the acknowledgement of service, indicating (amongst other things) whether or not he or she intends to defend the divorce. The court will send a copy of the form to the petitioner.
3 If the divorce is not defended, the petitioner can then apply to the court for the divorce to proceed. This is known as ‘applying for directions’.
4 If the court is satisfied that the petitioner is entitled to a divorce, it will fix a date for the pronouncement of the decree nisi, and notify both parties. It is not normally necessary to attend court when the decree nisi is pronounced.
5 After six weeks have elapsed since the date the decree nisi is pronounced the petitioner can apply for the decree absolute, finalising the divorce. The court will then seal the decree absolute and send copies to both parties.
A flowchart showing the basic procedure is shown in Figure 1.1.
Note: A divorce petition cannot be issued until one year has elapsed from the date of the marriage. This is an absolute bar, but note that it does not prevent the petitioner from presenting a petition based on matters that occurred before the expiration of the one-year period.
The first thing the petitioner needs to do is to decide upon the ground for divorce.