Step one: check and apply — online, £612
- You qualify if: you’ve been married over a year, the marriage is legally recognised in the UK (including same-sex marriage), and the relationship has permanently broken down. That’s it — no blame, no evidence, no waiting for the other person to agree.
- Apply online through GOV.UK — alone (sole) or together (joint). You’ll need your marriage certificate. The fee is £612, paid by the applicant or shared by agreement.
- Money tight? The Help with Fees scheme can cut the £612 or wipe it completely on a low income or qualifying benefits — apply for the reference first.
- Ending a civil partnership follows a near-identical process (its own GOV.UK route); a legal separation or annulment exist if divorce isn’t right or it’s under a year.
The “quickie divorce” sites
Websites selling “fast-track” or “managed” divorces are mostly charging £150–£600 to fill in the same free online form on top of the same £612 court fee — and no one can speed up the statutory waiting periods. The official service is designed for ordinary people. Paid help worth having is a
solicitor for the financial order, not a form-filler —
use the regulated registers.
Step two: the timeline — slow on purpose
| Stage | When | What it means |
|---|
| Application issued | Day 1 | Court serves your spouse; they acknowledge (they can’t contest the divorce itself in almost all cases) |
| Reflection period | 20 weeks minimum | Built into the law — use it to sort children + start the financial settlement |
| Conditional order | From week 20 | Court confirms you’re entitled to divorce (the old “decree nisi”) |
| Final order | 6 weeks + 1 day later | The marriage legally ends (the old “decree absolute”) |
The calm truth
The ~7-month floor isn’t bureaucracy being slow — it’s deliberate space. Used well, it’s exactly long enough to agree the children’s arrangements and get the financial order drafted, so the final order lands with everything settled.
Step three: the money — the step everyone misses
The divorce ends the marriage. It does not end the financial relationship. That takes a separate financial order:
- Agree between you? A solicitor turns it into a consent order the court seals — covering the house, savings, pensions and a clean break so neither of you can claim against the other again.
- No order at all? Financial claims stay open indefinitely — an ex can return years later, after lottery wins, inheritances or a business taking off. Real cases have cost people fortunes a decade on.
- Pensions are often the biggest asset after the house — they can be shared by order, and women in particular lose out badly when they’re ignored.
- Timing: it’s usually wise to get the financial order sealed before applying for the final order — ending the marriage first can cost you pension widow/widower rights and complicate inheritance in the gap.
- Can’t agree? Mediation first (it’s required before most court money applications), court as the last resort. Domestic abuse changes everything — legal aid still exists for it, and you skip mediation.
Children — separate again, and usually no court
Most parents agree arrangements themselves (a written parenting plan helps); courts only get involved when agreement fails, after mediation. Child maintenance runs alongside — agree it privately or use the
Child Maintenance Service (12–19% of gross pay by formula).
Step four: after the final order — the update list
The final order changes your legal position everywhere. Work down this list in the first month:
- Your will — divorce treats your ex as having died before you for inheritance purposes; gifts and executor appointments to them fall away. Remake it.
- HMRC — Marriage Allowance ends; tell them or face a year-end bill.
- Benefits — your claims change as a single person, often upwards: run the full check (UC, Council Tax Reduction, child elements).
- Council tax — living alone now? The 25% single-person discount applies from the day your ex moved out.
- Pensions & insurance — update death-benefit nominations and life-policy beneficiaries; they don’t update themselves.
- LPA — an ex named as attorney is rarely what you want now.
- Visa based on the marriage? You must tell the Home Office — get regulated immigration advice early.
Do this now
Today, free: dig out the marriage certificate, run the benefits check for your new situation, and if money is tight check Help with Fees — the £612 may be £0.
Then start the application on GOV.UK and use the 20 weeks well: children’s plan first, financial order before final order. Struggling emotionally? Relate and free support lines exist for exactly this.
Scotland & Northern Ireland
Both run their own processes with different grounds, timescales and fees — Scotland via the sheriff court or Court of Session (scotcourts.gov.uk, including a simplified procedure where there are no children under 16 and no financial dispute), Northern Ireland via nidirect. The £612 fee and the 20-week timeline above are England & Wales only.