People get married for many reasons; some get married too early or for convenience. A recent study found that 9 out of 10 married for convenience in the UK; true love appears to be Hollywood fiction.
As a result, 4 in 10 marriages end in divorce as cracks start to show. Unfortunately, most are naive to this reality or do not understand the person they marry. Below we’ll discuss how we’ll give you a way forward should you wish to get a divorce.
Before Getting a Divorce
In England and Wales, there are several criteria you’ll need to meet before you can divorce:
- Married for over a year.
- The relationship must be shown to have broken down.
- You were legally married, and it’s recognised in the UK.
- The UK is your permanent residence.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules, but the message is similar; check them out if you need to.
How You File for Divorce
Applying for divorce requires you to fill in a D8 form. You can do this online or by post. However, you can check with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for legal advice before doing so.
This service is a government-funded charity that helps give you advice if you cannot afford private help. It costs £550 to file the actual divorce paper without additional services. This measure is to help discourage you from entering and exiting a marriage without due consideration.
The D8 form will need both party’s contact details along with a solicitor’s details if you have one. In addition to these, you’ll also need to give grounds for the divorce:
- Has adultery occurred? Has one party cheated on another?
- Unreasonable behaviour such as domestic abuse.
- Has your spouse left you and has been absent for more than two years?
- You’ve lived apart mutually for more than two years and have agreed to a divorce.
- If you’ve lived apart for longer than five years, no agreement for divorce is required.
Except for the last point, you’ll ideally want an agreement before filing a divorce. This is because taking another party by surprise may hinder your bartering on assets along with the claim progression later.
Going through Divorce Steps
Filing a D8 starts the divorce process, and there are a few steps that you will need to think about. First, once the court has the application, a petition will send copies to all parties. They will, in turn, need to respond to acknowledge receivership and agree with the process.
The partitioner, who filed the D8, now can apply for a decree NISI. This is a provisional decree for divorce that later is ratified by a judge. This assumes, however, that it meets the grounds for divorce.
After six weeks and a day, you can apply for a decree to finalise the divorce. This measure helps reduce any corruption occurring between one party and a judge to push a divorce through without the second party’s knowledge. You will need to apply for the decree absolute within 12 months to stop any legal objections from being raised.
A straightforward divorce will take four to six weeks. However, if there are any disputes, this process can span months to years. In turn, this is one reason you need to get consent for divorce first before initiating the process.
Dividing Your Possessions
Over time, assets have likely been bought jointly with any partnership, while legal entitlements can muddy the water. But, remember, possession is 9/10th the law and where all problems typically arise; so, what do you do?
First, conclude that it’s far cheaper and easier to divide up assets amicably. If you can do this, then great; if not, you’ll need a judge or mediation service to help separate emotions from a logical process. If agreements cannot be made, you will require costly court intervention to extend the divorce process further.
When considering possessions, try and classify them by value; this can help take emotion out of the process. The biggest problem will be high-value assets such as properties. You can’t physically divide a house, so what do you do?
No one will want to stay in properties after a divorce as it will likely remind the holder of the failed relationship. But, sooner or later, these are sold; when dealing with properties, ensure both parties understand this.
Assuming that you want to sell a property, many fear that it’ll take months to finalise the process. Mortgages are also a problem as these will legally need to be paid off before keys change hands. Meanwhile, all the equity in the property is still retained, which means you may need a bridging loan to get a new property.
Thankfully there is an answer which doesn’t take months to sell your property. WeBuyAnyHomeExperts can give you money in your bank accounts within seven days of an initial call.
Our costs are passed on to future home buyers, and we take on all services needed to buy the property from you. We pay you the fair market price based on a street evaluation of local property sales. You don’t need to pay estate agents, surveyors, or solicitors; everything is covered for FREE!
Contact Us
WeBuyAnyHomeExperts is the largest home buying business in the UK. We thrive because the seller wants fast sales but doesn’t want to be undercut on fair market value. So there are no hidden fees, value-adding packages, or anything else.
We understand that you are in the middle of a potential battle zone. However, by converting significant value assets to cash, not only does each party get a fair share, it takes a time-consuming bartering process off the table. In addition, this process can relieve stress and allow you to focus on your smaller assets.
If you’d like us to help you, please give us a call. This facility, like everything we provide, is entirely FREE. Also, you aren’t under obligation to sell your property to use. If interested, we’ll ask you to fill in some very basic forms and provide you with a verified evaluation within 24 hours through a brief onsite visit.
