On 6 April this year changes to the legislation on divorce will
come into force. HM Courts & Tribunals Service will be
launching a new online service to accommodate this change.
The old service will be unavailable from 31 March 2022 while we
prepare for these changes.
Changes to divorce law
The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 reforms the
legal requirements and process for divorce. The act aims to
reduce the potential for conflict amongst divorcing couples by:
- removing the ability to make allegations about the conduct of
a spouse
- allowing couples to end their marriage jointly
The act also introduces a minimum period of 20 weeks between the
start of proceedings and application for conditional order. This
provides couples with a meaningful period of reflection and the
chance to reconsider. Where divorce is inevitable, it enables
couples to cooperate and plan for the future.
It will no longer be possible to contest a divorce, except on
limited grounds including jurisdiction.
If you’re getting divorced and have started your
application
If you have an application saved on the current digital service
and still want proceed, you’ll need to access your account and
submit your application by 4pm on 31 March 2022.
Alternatively, you can wait until the new digital service is
launched. If you still want to apply for a divorce, you can start
your application again from 6 April 2022.
If you’ve started filling out a paper application form, you’ll
need to make sure it’s received by the court by 4pm 31 March
2022. If you’re sending it in the post, you’ll need to make sure
it reaches the court by that date.
If you haven’t started your application
It can take time to get the right documents together for your
application. So, if you haven’t started an application yet, you
may want to wait until the new services are available from 6
April 2022.
Important dates
Whether you’re a solicitor or applying for a divorce yourself,
remember:
- from 31 March 2022 you can no longer apply on the current
paper or digital systems or access a saved digital application
which is yet to be issued by the court
- from 31 March to 5 April 2022 the digital service will not
accept new applications
- from 6 April 2022 the new paper and digital services will be
available
Urgent applications
Urgent applications can only be used when the issue of the
divorce petition is time critical. This includes when time is
critical for jurisdiction or when a freezing injunction is
needed. You’ll likely need legal advice to make an application.
We’ll continue to accept urgent applications that need to be
considered after the deadlines set out above and before the
6th April. We’ll issue where possible, if received by post
or email, before 4pm on the 5th April.
If you’re submitting your urgent application by email, use this
address: onlineDFRjurisdiction@justice.gov.uk (this inbox will
not be monitored after 4pm on 5 April 2022).
Additional information
Decree Nisi and Decree Absolute applications that have been
issued will be saved and remain available on the service.
More information on getting a
divorce is available on GOV.UK.
