divorce help

[b16dlg]

Hi my partner of 10 years (well ten years in 10 days) left her husband when he was sent to prison about 11 years ago. he was an abusive and controlling person and she is literally frightened of him. She has had no contact with him since he was imprisoned. They had no children together.

Problem we have is she wants to divorce him but in a way so he wouldn't know where she was currently living which is about 200 miles from where they lived together & also she doesn't know where he is living.

Usual tracing procedures we believe will not work as he has always worked cash in hand claimed no benefits and lived rough for a time after his release from prison. We have friends in the place where they lived together and no one has seen him in years (he may be dead as he had a history of solvent, drugs and alcohol abuse).

How do we go about raising a divorce pettition without giving away her location and without being able to say where he is in order to serve the petition on him? We are not well off people so need to keep the costs down to bare minimum especially as our children want us to get married next year lol.

Any help is much appreciated

thank you in advance

[Guest]

Re: divorce help

After five years separation your partner will not need her spouse's consent to divorce on this ground. She will need to give details of the date of the separation and brief reasons why they separated, but this need not be complicated and can be completed without a solicitor if funds are tight, but you will have statutory fees to pay to the Court.

[frances1p]

Re: divorce help

Hi there,
Just read your thread and the response above. I know little/nothing about the laws and regulations surrounding divorce - but the reply you have states "after five years seperation your partner will not need her spouse's consent to divorce etc"

This conflicts with my own Divorce Petition (which I completed myself and presented to the Court - Undefended Divorce). My situation (briefly) I got married to a guy from Portugal about 10 years ago. Following the marriage (ceremony) he deserted me and I have not had any contact with him since. Neither do I know or have any idea as to his current whereabouts or if he is even in this Country at all any more?

To get to my point (finally! ....) - when I presented my petition to the Court, explaining the above. The Circuit Judge residing over my Divorce Petition, disallowed it pending my making certain checks via @Social Security Dept, to locating this man. After which, if search proves unsucessful or otherwise, I can re-apply for Divorce via the Courts.

So why should the Court go to such trouble, or expect me to? if consent not required from respondent after 5 years????

Confusing? ......... Probably not much help to you, but I felt worthy of raising this point for my own curiosity. Good luck though, hope it all works out eventually!!

[Catti]

Re: divorce help

Although no consent is needed for the divorce, the 'Respondent' still has to be served with the papers and has the right to be heard should he contest the grounds stated, i.e. if he alleges they have not been apart for the necessary 5 years. He should also know that he is being divorced!

As to your own whereabouts, you can apply to the Court to keep your address confidential provided you do so before you start the proceedings. There will be increased fees to do this.

If you want to get married next year - then you need to start looking for the ex as soon as possible!

If you realistically think he may be dead, then make enquiries of the Registrar to see if a death has been registered!