Your Complete Guide To Divorce In England and Wales

Last reviewed: 21st July 2026

Article summary

✓ No-fault divorce has applied in England and Wales since 6th April 2022 under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, which removed the need to allege blame.

✓ A divorce takes a statutory minimum of 26 weeks, comprising a 20-week wait before the conditional order and a further six weeks before the final order. In practice it often takes much longer in particular where there are financial matters to resolve.

✓ The legal end of the marriage and the financial settlement are two separate matters, and a final order of divorce does not resolve financial matters or the legal claims spouses have against each other by virtue of their marriage. Financial matters are advised to be resolved alongside the divorce process. Advice should be taken as to the timings of the divorce and the next steps in the divorce process.

✓ A financial settlement only becomes binding when a court approves it as an order. Most couples reach an agreement and apply for a consent order without the need for contested court proceedings or a judicial determination. A final financial settlement order can only be made by the Court provided a conditional order has been granted.

✓ If you cannot agree financial matters you are expected to consider all forms of non-court dispute resolution before applying to court and in most cases are required to attend a MIAM (mediation information assessment meeting) with an independent mediator prior to making an application to Court to ensure you are fully informed.

✓ Arrangements for children are decided by reference to the child’s welfare, and parents are now expected to consider mediation or another out-of-court route before applying to court. Children’s matters are separate to divorce and resolution of financial matters.

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Introduction

The latest Ministry of Justice statistics show that between January and March 2026, 28,632 divorce applications were made. This was a 5% decrease from the same quarter in 2025. Behind each of those applications is a person facing one of the most difficult and upsetting situations in life. Thankfully, the law has become a good deal gentler than it once was. For decades, a spouse who wanted a divorce without waiting years had to accuse the other of adultery, unreasonable behaviour, or desertion. Now, divorce in England and Wales is a no-fault procedure governed by the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020. One spouse can apply for a divorce alone, or a couple can apply jointly, simply by confirming that the marriage has irretrievably broken down. The court treats that statement as settled, and there is no longer the risk that one spouse will try to stop the divorce because they dispute the grounds. The only challenges that can be made are to the marriage itself (validity) and/or jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales to deal with this.  A respondent can, in some cases, apply to the court to delay the grant of a final order until financial matters have been resolved.

This article explains how modern divorce works, how long it takes, how money and children fit around it, and where a solicitor can help take the weight off your shoulders. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own divorce laws, so everything here applies to England and Wales only. This is general information only and should not be construed as legal advice.

How does no-fault divorce work in England and Wales?

No-fault divorce means a spouse, or both spouses together, can end a marriage by stating that it has broken down irretrievably, without blaming anyone. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 removed the old requirement to rely on adultery, behaviour or separation. The court accepts the statement of breakdown as conclusive, so a divorce cannot be defended by challenge to the grounds.

The change took effect on 6th April 2022 and applies across England and Wales. As the amended Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 now puts it, the court “must take the statement to be conclusive evidence that the marriage has broken down irretrievably”. That single sentence ended a century of fault-based divorce. A respondent can no longer contest the divorce itself, and disputes about money or children are dealt with separately (but financial matters should be resolved alongside the divorce)

Joint applications for divorce are a feature of the new law. When a couple agrees that the marriage is over, they can apply together and move through the process side by side. Among opposite-sex couples divorcing under the new law in 2022, 71.7% applied alone and 28.3% applied jointly (Office for National Statistics, Divorces in England and Wales: 2022).

Many family law solicitors report that the tone of early correspondence has softened as a result of the fault element being removed. A respondent who would once have read a petition listing examples of their behaviour now reads a neutral statement that the marriage has ended. In our experience, this helps make negotiations about money and children easier and calmer because neither person starts from a position of public blame. The reform also closed off the tactic of defending a divorce to delay it, a route that in rare but well-known cases, such as Owens v Owens [2018] UKSC 41, had trapped one spouse in a marriage they wanted to leave.

The statement of irretrievable breakdown is the only ground for divorce. There is no separate list of facts to choose from, no need to wait two or five years of separation, and no requirement to prove anything about the other person’s conduct. The applicant (or applicants) simply confirms the position, and the law treats that confirmation as the end of the question of whether the marriage should continue.

What are the stages of the divorce process?

A divorce moves through three formal stages: the application, the conditional order, and the final order. The applicant files online or on paper and confirms that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. After a fixed waiting period, the applicant can apply to the court for the conditional order. The court then considers the application and determines whether to grant the conditional order and provides a certificate of entitlement. This is normally pronounced a few weeks later (in court but with no attendance required) and the conditional order issued. It is at this point that a judge confirms that the applicant is entitled to a divorce.

Once the conditional order is granted the applicant cannot apply for the final order (which legally ends the marriage) until at least six weeks and one day has passed from the conditional order. In practice this is usually delayed much longer, commonly until financial matters are resolved by way of a sealed order and even longer still if the financial settlement includes a pension share (typically a further delay of 28 days after the financial Order has been made). If the applicant has not applied for the final order until more than 12 months after the conditional order was granted, the applicant needs to confirm the reasons for the delay to the Court and the application is normally granted “out of time” . Applications for final orders are dealt with on paper and it is extremely rare to require attendance at Court hearing if they applied for by the applicant.

The respondent to a divorce can apply for the final order no earlier than three months after the first date the applicant can (so 3 months in addition to the six weeks and one day) however their application is not dealt with in the same way. It typically involves a hearing and as such adds additional time, cost and delay. A respondent can, in some circumstances, apply to delay the grant of the final order until their financial position on divorce has been considered if they have genuine concerns that they would be prejudiced.  That application is not automatic and it remains the discretion of the court as to whether to delay the divorce final order or not.

Being upfront as to the timescales for the divorce and where appropriate seeking agreement not to apply for the final order of divorce until financial matters are resolved often saves time and cost, both emotional and financial.

The application opens the case and starts the 20-week clock. The conditional order, once called the decree nisi, confirms entitlement but does not dissolve the marriage. The final order, once called the decree absolute, is the document that ends the marriage and frees both parties to remarry. We explain each step in plain terms through our separation and divorce service.

Two short companion guides go deeper than this overview allows. One explains what a conditional order in divorce is and what it does and does not do. The other sets out the details relating to a final order, including the timing rules and the reasons a couple might delay applying for it.

The divorce application itself asks for limited information: the names and addresses of both spouses, the date and place of the marriage, and confirmation that the court has jurisdiction to deal with the divorce. Jurisdiction usually rests on where one or both spouses are habitually resident or domiciled, and it can matter a great deal in international divorce. Once the application is issued, the court sends it to the respondent, who has 14 days to acknowledge receipt. In a joint application, both spouses are both treated as applicants, and there is no respondent to serve but both have to confirm they wish to proceed. It is possible to convert a joint application into a sole application if one applicant ceases engaging.

After the 20-week reflection period, the applicant confirms to the court that they wish to continue and applies for the conditional order. The court reviews the file and, in a straightforward case, a judge pronounces the conditional order without anyone needing to attend. The final stage is a matter of timing rather than fresh argument. Once six weeks and one day have passed, the applicant may request the final order, and the marriage ends when the court grants it (which is now often on the same day or within 24 hours unless the conditional order was granted over 12 months previously in which case additional questions are required and the Judge has to review).

How long does a divorce take?

When it comes to how long divorce takes, the statutory minimum is 26 weeks, around six months, although in nearly all cases run longer. A 20-week period must pass between the start of proceedings and the conditional order At least six further weeks, 43 days in practice, must pass before the final order can be applied for. The waiting periods are built into the law and cannot be shortened save with an Order of the Court which would only be granted in very rare and exceptional circumstances

The Ministry of Justice reported that between January and March 2026, the time from the date of application for divorce to the conditional order was 39 weeks. The mean average time from application to final order was 67 weeks. However, these figures relate only to the process of getting divorced, not how long it takes to reach an agreement on the divorce financial settlement or arrangements for children which are often key and can delay the divorce much longer especially where there are pension assets to deal with.

Several things lengthen a case in practice. Court processing is centralised, and administrative steps can take weeks longer than expected. Financial disclosure, where each spouse sets out their full financial position, takes time to gather, particularly where there are pensions to value or a business to assess. Reaching agreement on financial matters can take time and should not be rushed due to divorce timescales which are minimums rather than maximums. Where children’s arrangements are contested, those proceedings run in parallel and can absorb months of their own but don’t usually impact on the timings for divorce in the same way that financial matters do unless it is necessary to resolve children matters prior to reaching a financial settlement. The 26-week floor in divorce is genuinely a floor and it is very rare a divorce would be concluded in that timescale. The gap between it and the 70-week average is mostly made up of the work that surrounds the divorce rather than the divorce itself.

There are sensible reasons to take the timetable slowly. A couple who rush to the final order before the money is sorted can lose the protection that comes with being married whilst they are resolving finances. They may find that bringing a financial claim is harder once the marriage has ended (delay can harm later applications and re-marriage can cause most claims to be lost). Most couples are better served by treating the 26-week minimum as the shortest period possible and allowing the financial settlement the time it needs.

A final financial order can only be made by the Court if a divorce has reached the conditional order stage (or further). Whilst the divorce and financial proceedings are separate – they are linked and if you are doing a divorce yourself it is strongly recommended you take legal advice as to the timing of the divorce to avoid encountering any unforeseen difficulties which could have been avoided at the outset.

For more information on how long your divorce may take, please read our article.

How is money divided in a divorce?

Money is dealt with separately from the divorce itself, and a final order of divorce does not settle finances. A financial settlement covers property, pensions, savings, income and debts. A court weighs the factors in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, including each person’s needs, the length of the marriage, and the welfare of any children, before deciding what is fair and deals with the legal claims arising from the marriage (e.g. whether to dismiss these – known as a clean break -or not)

The reassuring news is that most couples never need a judge to impose a solution. They negotiate, often through themselves, solicitors or mediation, and then ask the court to approve their agreement as a consent order. That order makes the settlement binding and final. Without an Order in place, a former spouse can bring a financial claim years later, even after the divorce is complete. Our divorce financial settlement service ensures that our clients are advised and supported throughout this entire process.

What does a fair financial settlement actually involve?

A fair financial settlement is one which should meet both people’s needs where possible and takes into account principles such as needs, sharing (which applies to matrimonial assets) and compensation. In England and Wales the law is discretionary and this allows for bespoke solutions that work for your family, A fair settlement for one couple may not be a fair settlement for another The outcome reflects your particular circumstances and takes into account the factors Parliament set out in section 25 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 including the need where possible to have a clean break (which means a dismissal of the claims arising from marriage). Those factors (known as the Section 25 factors) include income and earning capacity, financial needs and obligations, the standard of living enjoyed during the marriage, the ages of the parties and the length of the marriage, any physical or mental disability, and the contributions each made, including looking after the home and raising children. The first consideration is always the welfare of any child of the family under eighteen.

Full and honest financial disclosure comes before any sensible negotiation as it is only once you are fully informed that you can make decisions as to how to settle your financial assets and claims. Each spouse sets out their income, property, pensions, savings, investments, business interests and debts, usually on a standard financial statement supported by documents (known as a Form E). The duty to disclose continues and applies whether the couple settles by agreement themselves, are at mediation, through solicitor negotiations or has a decision imposed (By Arbitration or Court. A settlement built on incomplete or misleading disclosure can be reopened later, so getting the disclosure right protects the agreement as much as it protects the other spouse.

Pensions are often the most valuable asset after the family home, and they are easy to underestimate. A court can share a pension, order that part of it be earmarked (rare in modern times), or offset its value against other assets. Valuing a pension fairly usually requires a specialist actuarial report, particularly with final-salary schemes, where the cash-equivalent value can understate the true value of the benefit or where there are several valuable schemes and the parties may be approaching retirement The treatment of the family home, business assets and any inheritance or pre-marital wealth all turn on the specific facts, which is why early advice on financial issues on divorce often saves money and stress in the long run. Financial matters on divorce often represent the biggest monetary decision people make in their lifetime. Therefore, it is important to get expert legal advice and understand all your options.

If a couple do not wish to make any claims against each other, and have either agreed what will happen to their assets or have no assets to resolve, it is advised that they should still have an order which formally records their agreement and dismisses their respective claims as without an order in place their claims stay open and can be pursued many years into the future post divorce if circumstances warrant it.

What happens to arrangements for children?

Arrangements for children are decided by reference to the child’s welfare, which the court treats as the most important consideration – the question is what is in the child’s best interests. Parents are encouraged to agree on where the children live and how they spend time with each parent, often through a parenting plan either agreed directly or with the aid of a trained independent mediator where appropriate. The court only imposes a child arrangements order where parents cannot agree, and it expects them to consider other forms of non-Court dispute resolution.

Children’s matters run on a separate track from the divorce and the money. Parents are encouraged to reach agreements directly -who best to decide than you as the parents.  If you cannot agree there are many options for help to agree – negotiation through solicitors, mediation, collaborative law, early neutral evaluation – or formal processes where decisions can be imposed including Arbitration or Court. A parent who applies to court for a child arrangement order must usually first attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting under section 10 of the Children and Families Act 2014, unless an exemption applies, such as domestic abuse. The Court now have wider powers to scrutinise at every hearing why parents are not considering use of other forms of non-court dispute resolution. The aim is to shield children from an adversarial process wherever it is safe to do so, and in our experience, most parents find that reassuring. I also find that, when done well, the mediation process often helps couples learn to communicate better, providing a positive foundation for moving forward with co-parenting.

Mediation is a unique process designed to ensure control of the outcome remains with you as parents but aided by an independent, trained, neutral third party to provide a safe space (whether virtual or face to face) to have the tough discussions and work through, together, what would be best for your children.

Where appropriate in mediation consideration can be had to a process known as child inclusive mediation (typically children over the age of 10 and where it is safe to do so), which would enable children to meet with a specialist trained mediator to have a confidential, safe meeting where they can express their wishes and feelings and what they may be feeling.  Agreed feedback is then given to the parents who use this to assist in their discussions moving forward. It remains for the parents, not children, to make decisions and the children would not be asked any specific questions to determine any disputes (e.g. they would not be asked who they would want to live with etc) but it can be a vital, and unique, opportunity for the children themselves to feel they have a voice in a process which is happening to them as well as the parents. Careful assessment as to suitability is had.

If sadly parents do reach the court or Arbitration for a decision to be imposed, the welfare checklist guides the decision. The court considers the child’s wishes and feelings in light of their age and understanding, their physical, emotional, and educational needs, the likely effect of any change, and any risk of harm. The court currently starts from the position that a child usually benefits from a relationship with both parents, provided it is safe to do so. Many parents find that a written parenting plan, agreed through mediation or with the help of solicitors, provides sufficient structure without the need for a court order and in English law there is a principle of no order meaning that unless it is necessary for the child there would not be orders made.

How can couples settle without going to court?

Most couples now resolve divorce finances and child arrangements without a contested final hearing, using non-court dispute resolution. The Family Procedure Rules define it as methods of resolving a dispute other than through the court, including mediation, arbitration, neutral evaluation and collaborative law. Since 29th April 2024, the court has actively encouraged these routes and treats an unjustified refusal as relevant to costs in some cases. The Court have the power to adjourn proceedings if they consider that people have not properly contemplated non-court dispute resolution. At each hearing the Court expect to hear why it is not appropriate.

The change came through the Family Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2023, in force from 29th April 2024. Practice Direction 3A confirms that “the court does have a duty to consider, at every stage in proceedings, whether non-court dispute resolution is appropriate” (Practice Direction 3A, Courts and Tribunals Judiciary).

The options differ in terms of cost, speed, and who makes the final decision.

Route	Who decides	Binding outcome	Typical use
Mediation	The couple, helped by a mediator	No, until made into an open legal document (such as a consent order)– mediation outcomes are legally privileged	Couples who can communicate; finances and/or children arrangements
Collaborative law	The couple, with their solicitors	No, until made into a consent order	Couples wanting legal support in the room and for solicitors to be actively involved and negotiate with them
Arbitration	An appointed arbitrator	Yes, the award enforced by court	Couples wanting a private, final decision without court delay
Private FDR	The couple, after a neutral evaluation giving a non binding expert opinion	No, but guides settlement	Financial disputes that want to settle but have stalled or those wanting to test the strength of a position

 

What changes the day the marriage legally ends?

The final order changes your legal status and, with it, several rights that depend on being married. From the moment the final order is made, both people are free to remarry or form a civil partnership. The marriage no longer exists, and the protections it afforded for example on death fall away. A spouse who would have inherited automatically under the intestacy rules no longer does. A spouse living in the family home which is owned in the other spouse’s sole name has home rights (to protect rights of occupation and notify third parties of their interest) by virtue of their marriage which can be protected at the land registry but those can be removed once the marriage has been ended, A gift to a former spouse in an existing will is treated under section 18A of the Wills Act 1837 as if the former spouse had died on the date of the order, so reviewing your will at this point is sensible.

However the financial relationship between the former spouses does not end with the marriage being dissolved unless a separate court order says so (or in some cases on subsequent remarriage). A sealed financial order, usually a consent order, is what draws a line under future claims, and a clean-break order ends the right of either person to bring a fresh claim against the other. Without that order, claims can survive for years. The day-to-day arrangements for children continue under whatever plan or order is in place, and either parent can ask the court to revisit those arrangements if circumstances change as they are separate to your marital status

Updating the practical details often gets overlooked in the relief of finishing the divorce process Bank accounts, mortgages, tenancy agreements, pension nominations, life insurance beneficiaries and emergency contacts may all need to change.

How do you start the divorce process well?

Starting well means getting clear, kind advice before you make any irreversible move. A first conversation with a family law solicitor lets you understand your position, the likely shape of a settlement, and the sensible order in which to take each step, all before an application is filed. I find that clients often arrive at that first meeting feeling overwhelmed and leave feeling calmer, simply because someone has explained what happens and reassured them they have options. Early advice is valuable in all cases but in particular where there are children, pensions, a business, property abroad, or any concern about how assets are being handled.

 

Talk to Purcell Solicitors

If you are thinking about divorce, or you have received an application and want to understand what happens next, the family team at Purcell Solicitors will listen first and then talk you through your options clearly, in plain English and without pressure. You do not have to face this alone, and there is no obligation in simply asking. You can arrange a conversation through the contact page or call +44 (0)1908 693000.

Last reviewed: June 2026

Please note that this article does not constitute legal advice.