Under UK divorce law, in order to gain a divorce you must petition the court and the court must accept your petition. Your petition must set out valid grounds for divorce backed up by evidence. The divorce will only go through if this is all done correctly. If both parties consent to the divorce, the court will not apply particularly rigorous evidential requirements. However, if one party contests the court, the petition will need to more carefully and thoroughly cover the evidential requirements. You may choose to contest a divorce either because you do not agree with the grounds or evidence set out in the petition, or simply because you do not want to get divorced. You can only validly contest a divorce if you can establish that the grounds for divorce have not been met. You cannot contest a divorce simply because you want to stay married to your spouse. You should speak to a divorce solicitor before defending a divorce. A divorce solicitor will advise you whether you have any valid grounds to defend it.
If you do decide to defend the divorce, you could file an -Ëœanswer'. Alternatively, if you agree to the divorce in principle but take issue with the grounds or evidence set out in the petition, you could file a cross-petition setting out your case. These forms need to be submitted to the court within 29 days of receiving the petition. To ensure that everything is in order you should get advice from a divorce solicitor. Many people prefer to get a divorce solicitor to prepare and file the documents themselves to ensure that they get everything correct the first time and do not have to resubmit anything.
Both parties will receive copies of the documents lodged by the other. The court will then allocate a hearing date. The court encourages parties to try to reach an agreement before proceeding to the final hearing. You could use this time to negotiate, whether in person or through your divorce solicitors. If your case is weak or futile, your divorce solicitor may advise you not to contest the divorce in order to save the money, time and stress associated with unsuccessful court proceedings.
Richard Einerhann works for Contact Law, the UK's foremost legal brokerage company - finding the right family solicitors or divorce solicitors for your needs.
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