How Long Does a Divorce Take Under No Fault Divorce?

Since no fault divorce began on 6 April 2022, the law sets a minimum timetable for every divorce in England and Wales. From the date the court issues your application, you must wait at least 20 weeks before you can apply for the conditional order, and then at least 6 weeks and 1 day after the conditional order before you can apply for the final order that legally ends the marriage.

That means the quickest possible divorce takes a little over six months. In practice, most people should allow longer. Court processing times, delays in serving the papers, and above all sorting out finances, can all stretch the timetable. The encouraging news is that with good preparation and a calm approach, many divorces run close to the minimum.

1. Application. One of you (a sole application) or both of you together (a joint application) apply to the court, stating that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. Nobody has to prove blame. Most applications are made online.
2. Issue and service. The court issues the application. In a sole application, it is then served on your spouse, who has 14 days to send back an acknowledgement of service.
3. The 20 week reflection period. This runs from the date the application is issued. It gives couples time to reflect and, very often, to agree arrangements for money and children.
4. Conditional order. After 20 weeks you can apply for the conditional order. Once the court is satisfied, it pronounces it. This replaced the old “decree nisi”.
5. The 6 week wait. At least 6 weeks and 1 day must pass after the conditional order.
6. Final order. You can then apply for the final order, which replaced the old “decree absolute”. Once it is made, you are legally divorced.

Our no fault divorce page explains the process in more detail, and our article on the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 covers the background to the changes.

A little preparation helps avoid delays later. You need to have been married for at least one year before you can apply. You will need your marriage certificate (the original or a certified copy, with a certified translation if it is not in English), your spouse’s current address, and details of any previous court proceedings about the marriage or the children.

It is also worth deciding at the outset whether to make a joint or a sole application. A joint application can feel more cooperative and avoids the need to serve papers on your spouse, but both of you must take part at each stage. A sole application keeps control with one person, but relies on the other responding. We can talk you through which suits your situation.

The minimum periods are fixed, but a number of things can add weeks or months:

• Problems serving the papers. If your spouse does not respond, or you do not know where they live, you may need to arrange personal service or ask the court for permission to serve another way.
• Errors or missing documents. An incorrect name, a missing certificate or an unclear translation can mean the court sends the application back.
• A dispute about jurisdiction or the validity of the marriage. These are now the only real grounds to dispute a divorce, and they are rare, but they take time to resolve.
• Leaving it a long time. If you wait more than 12 months after the conditional order before applying for the final order, you will need to explain the delay to the court, which can add another step.
• Court workloads. Processing times vary, and you cannot control them.
• Waiting to finish finances. Very often, the final order is deliberately delayed until the financial settlement is in place, which we explain below.

The divorce itself only ends the marriage. It does not divide your home, savings or pensions, and it does not end your financial claims against each other. That is done separately through a financial order.

Where you agree terms, a solicitor can draw them up as a consent order and send it to the court for approval, usually after the conditional order. Where you cannot agree, either of you can ask the court to decide. Contested financial cases involve financial disclosure and a series of court hearings, and they can take many months, sometimes a year or more.

Many people are advised not to apply for the final order until the financial order has been approved. That is because becoming divorced can affect rights that depend on being married, such as some pension and inheritance rights. Each case is different, so please ask before you apply. Our pages on financial orders on divorce and clean break orders, and our article on divorce and the need for financial consent orders, explain more.

Arrangements for children run separately from the divorce and do not hold it up. Most parents agree where the children will live and how they will spend time with each parent, sometimes with the help of mediation. If agreement is not possible, the court can decide, and that process has its own timetable. Our child arrangements page explains the options, and our article on the benefits of mediation shows how many families reach agreement without a court battle.

When everything is agreed, the divorce itself is straightforward. We offer a fixed fee of £500 plus VAT (£600) for a straightforward divorce, plus the court fee and any disbursements, covering everything from the application to the final order. That fixed fee applies only where the divorce stays agreed. If it becomes contested, or your spouse has to be personally served, the work falls outside the fixed fee.

Finances and children are separate, and this is where most of the cost lies. We cannot offer fixed fees for financial matters, because every case is different, but we will always give you a clear cost estimate before work starts. Where couples reach agreement, costs stay much more modest. Where the court has to decide, costs can run into thousands of pounds. You can read more on our divorce cost and family law pricing pages.

Time and cost tend to go together: the more that is agreed, the quicker and less expensive the whole process usually is.

The 20 week reflection period and the 6 week wait after the conditional order are set by law, and in almost every case they cannot be shortened. What you can do is avoid the delays around them: make sure the application is completed correctly first time, have the right documents ready, provide an up to date address for your spouse, and use the reflection period to work on financial and children arrangements so they are ready when the divorce is.

Under no fault divorce, your spouse cannot defend the divorce because they disagree that the marriage has broken down. The statement that it has broken down irretrievably is enough. A divorce can only be disputed on limited grounds, such as the court’s jurisdiction or whether the marriage is legally valid.

A spouse who does not cooperate can still cause some delay, for example by not returning the acknowledgement of service. There are court procedures to deal with this, and we can guide you through them.

Our family law team, including Associate Solicitor Tracy Talbot, helps people in Scunthorpe, Goole and across North Lincolnshire and the East Riding to divorce as calmly and efficiently as possible. We take care of the paperwork, keep the timetable moving, and help you agree a fair financial settlement and arrangements for your children. Visit our divorce solicitors page to find out more.

An initial consultation of up to one hour costs a fixed £150 plus VAT (£180), by phone, video call or in person. Call us for a friendly, no obligation chat about what to expect.