DIY Divorce

[Blackberrymuffin]

DH and I both want to get divorced. It's very amicable and we've agreed split on assets. The DCs are over 18. Is there a way we can do it ourselves without involving lawyers and huge expense? Has anyone done it?

Yes, I did it through Divorce online. It was a bit involved for me, but all went through in the end including the financial order.

There isn’t much support, and if I did it again I would probably get a local solicitor to do the financial order and just put the Divorce through myself.

I did it. The local court sent a form which we completed and the process went from there. No solicitors, no nothing apart from a fee. We had no assets to split, agreed on the DCs etc so had nothing to argue about - it was very easy and straightforward. I think that was probably 18 years ago, though.

www.gov.uk/divorce/file-for-divorce

Certainly possible to do yourself -- I did my own. It helps if one of you is good at filling in forms, and that one should take the lead (be the petitioner).

No matter how amicable you are, there still has to be grounds for irretrievable breakdown (either 2 years separated+consent or unreasonable behaviour); and one has to the 'petitioner' and the other the 'respondent'.

You still end up paying a court fee (which I think is about £500-£600 now). And the process takes a few months. It can also feel a bit 'sad' at times even if you are both certain all is over. You'll need a marriage certificate to send off .. some people like to keep the original one (my ex wanted to), in which case you go online and order a duplicate to use, which is another small expense

Thank you all so much. Very helpful info. Much appreciated. I like the idea of keeping the original marriage certificate.