Decree Nisi and Decree Absolute - more info please.

[knittingaddict]

I'm asking on behalf of my daughter.

She is the respondent in her divorce from an abusive man. Just before lockdown she heard that it was going to court for the decree nisi, but has heard nothing since.

She met her ex for the first time in almost 2 years this last weekend for the first unsupervised contact and he mentioned that he had signed for the Absolute ages ago. The financials are still being sorted and her solicitor is checking to see what is going on. The ex will try anything to keep as many assets as he can and has a history of fraud and dodgy dealings despite his middle class persona.

The solicitor is working for nothing as my daughter had legal aid for her family court hearings and there were issues over her then paying for a divorce solicitor. So she isn't getting the full service that she might get from a paid solicitor. The solicitor can be a bit slow for obvious reasons ie paying clients come first.

I don't have any experience of how all this works and neither does my daughter. I've also looked online and can't find the basic info she needs.

Does the respondent receive notification of the nisi and can the absolute happen without her knowing? What paperwork usually comes to the respondent, if any? Thanks.

Hi, if I remember rightly, long time since I was divorced, she will get notification when the nisi has been received by the court, the absolute is then sent several weeks later, I think the nisi has a date on it when the divorce is final. I expect there could be a hold up at the moment because of covid.

I am in the process of getting divorced at the moment, although I am divorcing my husband so I am the other side of the Coin.

I had an email telling me when the decree nisi was to be heard in court. I then had a further email saying that it had been granted and that I can apply for the decree absolute after 6 weeks.

Has your daughter had any notification of dates for the Nisi hearing? If it had been 6 weeks since then, she can apply for the absolute herself.

The absolute doesn't just happen, it has to be applied for but either party can apply.

This is the message I have when I log into my Gov account. It clearly states you are not divorced until the absolute is applied for.

If her ex is abusive I would worry he could pretend he applied for the absolute and keep them married. If she's not aure tell her to apply for it herself.

She will receive paperwork for the nisi and has 6+1 weeks to object before any absolute can be applied for. But often this time frame is longer as it is a time to meditate if the split is actually what each person wants. It is not
automatic and needs to be actioned.

If she received papers to sign and the nisi they have the correct adress.
She may have signed at the solicitor.
She is divorced the day the absolute is granted. She will receive a copy unless she has requested it goes somewhere else.

She is the respondent rather than the petitioner. I think it is different in that case. Where any of you the respondent?

I've just read that Marital Home Rights (which she registered when she left) end with the marriage too, so it's all causing some anxiety.

I think it happens like this:

Person 1 starts the divorce.

Person 2 responds.

It is heard in court and decree nisi granted ( she had a few days advance notice that this was going to happen, but then lockdown happened).

Person 1 can then apply for absolute after the 6 weeks, but Person 2 won't be told this is happening.

Person 2 is told when the Absolute has been granted.

Does that sound right?

The solicitor has been very slow, but it's difficult to push when you keep being reminded that's it's free. If she doesn't get a share of the pension it's going to be a very expensive mistake on someone's part and my daughter will be the one paying.

Ex was financially abusive.

My divorce has been on going during Covid.

We have the decree nisi and I was told I could apply for the decree absolute, 1 month and 1 day after.

However the financial side needs to be completed before the decree absolute, also get a clean break in place

The solicitor is chasing it up now, so should hear soon.

Thanks for the replies.

The financial order is completely separate to the decree absolute. This has to be applied for separately. You usually don't get the absolute until the financial order is done as they are submitted to the court at the same time.

The financial order will decide on the split of assets.

She should re rice notification of both the decree nisi and absolute so I would be suspicious if she's heard nothing at all