Divorce

[fudge]

Hi.
Need some advice on divorce please. My ex wife and i seperated august 2013. I applied for a divorce september 2016 on the basis my ex wife agreed to 2 years seperation. She has received the papers but now changed her mind. I havent received the acknowledgement of service after 18 days from the court posting it. She is ignorning all texts and conversations now about it. I just want to move on.. do i have to amend the divorce? Im not sure where to go from here as i dont want to shell out on a solicitor.

[Peridot]

Re: Divorce

Hi, there are several options when applying for the divorce. As you already know you can obtain a divorce after a two year separation with the consent of the other party. Without their consent the decree will not be granted. The other options you may wish to consider would be to wait five years, when a divorce would be granted without your ex's consent or to amend your application to obtain the divorce on the basis of the other persons unreasonable behaviour. You would need to provide about 4-5 examples of the unreasonable behaviour, which should be backed up with specifics that weren't too long ago. I would reckoned you obtain some legal advice on amending your application if this is a course of action available to you. You may be able to get a free half hour or reduced fee initial interview to point you in the right direction. The courts do provide various leaflets on divorce proceedings that may be helpful.

[FionaC]

Re: Divorce

Dear Fudge

Has your wife said she won't complete the acknowledgement of service form? She may have done it and sent it to the court and it may be a delay with the court.

If your wife is truly refusing to sign the paperwork then all is not lost. It is possible to issue another petition immediately based on her unreasonable behaviour and within that petition ask for the previous petition to be dismissed.

You probably didn't claim your costs in the 2 years separation petition because it was by consent but you can claim your costs in a behaviour petition.

I would e-mail your wife ( I am a great believer in clear, strong letters) saying that if she doesn't confirm to you with evidence ( ie a copy and date of postage) that she has sent off the acknowledgement of service form you will issue a new petition based on her unreasonable behaviour, seek legal advice ( you can do this or not later as you want) and make a claim for costs against her. obviously you can say that you really don't want to do this but would be left with not alternative.

Hopefully she'll complete the form then! If not you may have to take action.

Kind regards,

FionaC