Resume Previous Divorce Petition

[BLAZEFALCONBURGER]

Hi all - 1st post, and I wondered (well, hoped) if somebody could give me some advice, as this forum seems a wealth of knowledge on this unfortunate topic.

In February 2016 I moved out of the marital home and in June 2016 I filed a petition to divorce my wife on the grounds of UB, the respondent replied and it was filed at the court.
I then didn't apply for the decree nisi, and we had an attempt at reconciliation and I moved back to the home in July. Unfortunately the reconciliation attempt never really worked and has failed with the same reasons given for UB as before, but now I would like to resume the divorce process. I was living in hope for change, but it never happened.

I have received conflicting information on how to proceed - one person at the court told me to complete forms D84, D80B and apply for the nisi as the case is still live, but include a letter to the court to explain the delay, and another told me I need to file form D11 and cancel this petition and start a new one, paying another £550 court fee.

I did use an (expensive) high street solicitor for the initial petition, but I am keen to attempt to DIY this time to save costs. The forms look easy enough, but on the D80b form under the section of !have you lived together for more than 6 months since starting the petition" - I wonder what I could explain here to help my case?

Has anyone been in the same position or could anyone shed any light?

Thanks

I moved back in July 2016 and I am still here (I will be moving out at the end of the month), so greater than 6 months.

However even though we lived together, we stayed in separate bedrooms and maintained separate lives - no shared cooking, cleaning,
etc (one of the reasons given for UB) - so it could be argued that the reasons for UB never went away (along with the other reasons), hence wanting to now resume the process as the same reasons still stand.

Thanks - I was told by the 2nd person at the court (and another solicitor) that as we had attempted reconciliation this is viewed as a decision not to divorce, so it needed to be cancelled and restarted, incurring the costs again.

I guess as I've already paid and am this far, that I should just try and send the forms and see what happens.

Is it worth sending a covering letter, or not even mentioning reconciliation?

Previously it was started with a solicitor on my behalf - how do I now change it to make sure any return communication would come to me directly and not to the previous solicitor?

Yes, I think I didn't make this point clear also because it perhaps was not asked in so much detail as you, so thank you for the clarification there, very helpful.

On the FP8 form - where do I enter my updated petitioner's address? Under section C it specifically mentions Name of Solicitor / Firm

I presume the Applicant box is me, the petitioner, and the Respondent is my STBX?

For question 6 "Since the date given in answer to question 5 (or if no date was given to that question, since the date
of your divorce / dissolution / (judicial) separation petition), have you lived at the same address as the Respondent for a period of more than 6 months?"
Yes/No

For question 5 - I marked Yes to the behaviour as on going because it is.

So if the reconciliation period was less than 6 months but have continued living at the same address, I should mark No here, based on the reasoning that time spent living together during reconciliation is less than 6 months, but time spent living together (as in the same house but separately) is greater than 6 months?
Is my understanding correct here?

Thanks

Brilliant, that's what I thought .. eventually! Done - many thanks for your help :)

Should I leave the "to" date blank, as I am currently residing at the shared address?