Guidance Notes

Supporting notes for guidance on completing a divorce/dissolution/(judicial) separation petition.

Important

You should complete this petition if you wish to make an application to the court to dissolve a marriage or civil partnership or if you wish to obtain a (judicial) separation from your spouse or civil partner. You can only apply for a divorce / dissolution if you have been in your marriage or civil partnership for at least one year.

In this form any reference to a marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate means a certified copy of the entry in the Register of Marriages or Register of Civil Partnerships. If you do not have the original marriage/civil partnership certificate, you can apply for a certified copy from the General Register Office or from the relevant Register Officer. Please see leaflet D183 – About Divorce/ Dissolution or

D192 – About (Judicial) Separation for more details, copies of which can be obtained from either a family court or by going to www.justice.gov.uk.

If you entered into a religious marriage as well as a civil marriage, these divorce proceedings may not dissolve the religious part of your marriage. It is important that you contact the relevant religious authority which authorised the marriage to see whether or not you should take steps to dissolve that marriage. If you do not dissolve the religious marriage, this could have consequences for you and your children.

In cases of urgent applications it may be possible for you to provide an undertaking to the court to deliver the original or a certified copy of the marriage/civil partnership certificate to the court at a later date.

If you are attaching any order of the High Court, county court or family court to your petition, it must bea sealed copy of the order (that is, a copy that has been stamped with the seal of the court). If you are attaching an order made by a Family Proceedings Court/magistrates’ court, it must be a certified copy (a copy certified by a court officer to be a true copy of the original order), or a copy that has been stamped with the seal of the originating court. If you are in any doubt about what is needed, please contact the court where you are applying for assistance.

Take or send the completed application form to the court together with the court fee and any documents you are attaching in support of your application. You will also need to give the court a copy of the petition and documents for each Respondent.

You should normally make your application to the Designated Family Centre for your area. You can find this, and a full list of courts and what type of work they do online at courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk

You may need to pay a fee with your application. You should read leaflet EX50 Civil and family court fees to find out what fee, if any, you need to pay. This leaflet is available from your local court or online at hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk

Complete the form as fully as you are able. If the form is not fully completed the court may be unable to issue your petition and this may delay your case.

D8 (Notes) Supporting notes for guidance on completinga divorce/dissolution/(judicial) separation petition (04.14)

Assistance in completing the form

The notes below will help you to complete the form. However if you are unsure about any of the questions or how to answer them you may wish to seek legal advice. Please note, while court staff will help on procedural matters, they cannot offer any legal advice.

Page 1: Insert the full name by which you are currently known, and then confirm what you are applying for by ticking the appropriate box.

Part 1: About you (the Petitioner) and the Respondent

You are known as the Petitioner. Your spouse or civil partner is known as the Respondent. You should enter your current details and the Respondent’s current details as fully as you know them, making sure you enter the names by which you are both currently known.