The divorce process
This bit of our guide explains the process for a divorce in England and Wales that are started after 6 April 2022.
Civil partner? Read this guide instead, but civil partnership dissolution is pretty much the same as divorce.
If you have read the ‘before you apply for a divorce’ guidance you should now:
have confirmed you can apply
know whether you are applying jointly or by yourself
know whether you need to pay the fee, and if you don’t, have already got your HWF code
have your marriage certificate and any translation
have any documents showing a change of name for you or your ex
Once you have all this, it’s time to actually apply.
The effect of getting divorced
The final divorce order ends your marriage.
This is a good time to make a new Will. This is because any legacy to your ex in your current Will won’t be valid any more, and nor will any appointment of them as your executor. If you want them to continue to benefit, you need a new Will to say that explicitly.
Any home rights – the right to live in the family home even if your name is not on the title or a declaration of trust – will end.
You won’t be able to receive any benefits under your ex’s pension or life insurance although the court can give you a pension share in financial remedy proceedings.
Remember that getting divorced does not end your financial claims against one another or sort out finances. Only a financial remedy order will do that. Look at our pages about this.
Further help
All this can be confusing. Remember that this website just provides information and it cannot cover everything you might need to know, and it is not a replacement for legal advice.
For advice about your own situation, find a lawyer by looking at our page on Finding Legal Advice.
Developing this page
This site is a work in progress. If you have a request for something for us to write about to add to this page, email us at law.clinic@uea.ac.uk. However, remember that we cannot give legal advice about your situation so we will only deal with general requests to write more information on specific points.