Primary Carer Rights: Ensuring the Best Interests of the Child
When a marriage or civil partnership breaks down, one of the hardest and most important things to decide is how children are raised and cared
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Highly experienced solicitors from Shortlands team are skilled at handling separations of all natures. With 10+ years of experience with dealing with high value cases, we’re confident we can deliver fast and outcomes.
Our team has helped families and individuals with issues around divorce and separation, and offer clear, understandable advice. Our services include issue resolution through any means including: mediation, collaboration or through the legal courts
system.
If you and your partner have decided to get a divorce or separate, it is vital that you understand your rights and responsibilities throughout the process. As specialist divorce lawyers, we can help you with mediation and negotiations and finalise your divorce as quickly as possible with minimum stress. Call us for any family law enquiries.
In 2020, 103,592 divorces were granted in England and Wales and the average duration of marriage at the time of divorce was 11.9 years. At Shortlands, we understand that there are many layers to the end of a marriage. Therefore, we devote our expertise to top-priority cases where the client needs our guidance and respect during dark times.
Unreasonable behaviour was the most common reason for wives petitioning for divorce among opposite-sex couples in 2020;…for husbands, the most common reason for divorces was a two-year separation”. The same year, female same-sex couples had an average marriage duration of 4.7 years and 5.4 years for male couples. “Divorces among same-sex couples have only been possible since 2015 following the introduction of same-sex marriages in March 2014”. Dealing with the emotional and financial fallout of a divorce can be overwhelming. The top-class lawyers at Shortlands can take you through the processes and achieve the best possible result with as little confrontation as possible.
If one of the spouses contests the divorce, our company can guarantee to reach an agreement at the outset. This will avoid escalated costs, delay and stress. If an agreement is unreachable, we can ensure to avoid complications and early settlement by presenting your case before the court in the strongest terms.
A divorce petition, also known as D8 form, is the first court document in divorce proceedings. It is filled out by one spouse (the petitioner) and is filed at court, and then sent to the other spouse.
In the UK, the five accepted grounds are;
The long awaited ‘no fault divorce’ is due to become law in England and Wales in April 2022. This means that couples can get divorced without one spouse needing to lay blame on the other.
On average, an ‘agreed divorce’ in the UK takes between four to six months.
A Decree Nisi is the first order in your divorce process. It confirms that the court doesn’t see any reason to deny your divorce as long as the details in the petition are sufficient.
A Decree Absolute is the final decree which concludes your divorce and legally ends the marriage. You need to wait at least 6 weeks after the date of the Decree Nisi before you can apply for a decree absolute.
The simple answer is that it is unlikely that you would need to go to court. However, if there are any legal disputes then court attendance will be necessary.
You can change your name but not your children’s names without consent from the other party. To change your name on official records you will need a deed poll or other types of formal documents.
You do not need a solicitor but it is strongly advised to take legal advice on any financial affairs.
You can find plenty of information and advice on our website but we know there is no replacement for personalised advice. If you have any queries about your particular circumstances, please do not hesitate in giving us a call on 02076299905.
For any further information on divorce then you can visit GOV.UK or the Citizens Advice website.
There are mainly 5 stages of filing for divorce:
Stage 1: Decide on your grounds for divorce.
Stage 2: Complete a divorce petition (D8 form) which you can do online along with paying the court fee. The court will then send this form to the respondent.
Stage 3: Submit the divorce petition and await acknowledgment of service.
Stage 4: Apply for a Decree Nisi and await the judge to grant permission for a divorce, based on the grounds you provided. After this you can apply for a financial order application and settle any arrangements with your spouse.
Stage 5: Apply for a decree absolute (6 weeks after you applied for the decree nisi). Once this decree is granted, you are legally divorced.
You cannot begin the divorce process in England and Wales before you have been married for at least 1 year.
Since 2004, we have grown our team of family lawyers, all of whom have experience of working with high value divorce cases in England, and international divorce cases. Much of these involved coming to negotiated financial agreements and protective child welfare arrangements.
Our family law team can assure issue resolution through mediation or collaboration at the first instance, to reduce conflict and costs. However, if a more robust approach is required, we are equipped to deal with your case to achieve the best outcome. Shortlands is dedicated to providing effective divorce services that makes the process as painless as possible.
Our team of family law solicitors is dedicated to clarifying the process and offering clear, understandable advice for you. Simply call us for an initial consultation and have confidence that we will support you till the end. You can count on us.
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