You can obtain a divorce in England and Wales if all of the following are correct:

• You have been married for over a year
• Your relationship has permanently broken down
• Your marriage is legally recognised in the UK (this includes same-sex marriages).

You can apply to end (dissolve) your civil partnership if you have been in the partnership for over a year.  You must apply to the court to do this.

If you do not want to end your marriage or your civil partnership, you can get a legal separation.  You can apply for a separation during the first year of your civil partnership. You might also be able to annul the marriage.  You can apply for separation or annulment during your first year of marriage.

You must decide whether you want to make a joint application with our husband or wife or whether you want to apply on your own.

It normally takes at least 7 months to get a divorce.  This is the same for a joint and sole applications. 

 You can make a joint application if both of the following apply:

• You both agree that you should get a divorce
• You are not at risk of domestic abuse.

You will both have to separately confirm that you want to continue with the divorce application at each stage of the process.

If your husband or wife stops responding, you will be able to continue the divorce on your own.

 You can make a sole application if either of the following apply:

• Your husband or wife does not agree you should get a divorce
• You do  not think your husband or wife will cooperate or respond to notifications from the court.

You and your husband or wife can choose to work out:

• Arrangements for looking after children
• Child maintenance payments for children,
• You can also divide and resolve your money and property.

Once you have applied to the court, the court will send out a stamped copy of your application which will contain a case number.  You need to wait 20 weeks after your divorce application has been issued by the court.  After this you and your husband or wife can continue with  the divorce by applying for a conditional order.  The court will review your application for a conditional order or decree nisi.  This may take several weeks.  If the Judge agrees, the court will send you and your husband or wife a certificate.

The certificate will tell you the time and date you will be granted the conditional order or decree nisi.  You will still be married after it has been granted.

You need to wait at least 43 days (6 weeks and 1 day) after it’s been granted before you can apply to finalise the divorce and end the marriage.

To end your marriage you must apply for either:

• A final decree
• A decree absolute (if the court issued your petition before 6th April 2022)

You can apply for a final order as a sole application, even if you started the divorce process jointly with your husband and wife.