Is it possible to get a divorce without the consent of your spouse? Under certain circumstances, yes. In England, for a divorce to be granted, there has to be a reason attributed to the break-up. There are five different ones you can use. Here at Saracens Solicitors, we’ve been a divorce solicitor in London for 14 years and have guided hundreds of clients through the dissolution of their marriage in that time. We can advise you on which cause is best suited for your situation.
If you are in conflict with your spouse about whether the marriage should end, or, as is sometimes sadly the case, they have been violent or aggressive towards you, it’s not always necessary to have their permission to divorce. Another scenario would be that you haven’t seen your spouse for years, and you want to make the separation official.
The five reasons are:
- Adultery
- Unreasonable behaviour
- Desertion
- Two years separation
- Five years separation.
Unless you want to use the two years separation reason, you don’t need your partner’s consent to start divorce proceedings. However, your spouse will need to sign documentation to acknowledge they have received the divorce petition, or it can lead to lengthy delays. Even if you don’t know where they are, you will need to show the court you have done your utmost to find them. If you aren’t able to track your spouse down, a divorce solicitor in London can go through the necessary legal proceedings for you.
You have three options if your spouse won’t accept the divorce papers:
- If your spouse contacts you about the divorce proceedings in any written form, including text and email, you can use this as evidence and ask the court to proceed without the official papers
- You can employ a process server. This is someone who will serve your spouse with the divorce papers without warning, ask them to confirm their name and will provide a written statement confirming that they have received the papers
- You could also try mediation to see if you can reach agreement. As your divorce solicitor in London we can arrange a mediation session.
