Can you change grounds for divorce

The English courts can dissolve foreign marriages so long as there is an appropriate connection, for example if one or both of you live in England or Wales or you are both from England or Wales.

It may be that you and your spouse have connections with more than one country and that you have the option to get divorced here or abroad. Choosing the right country to get divorced in is important as it can have a big impact on how the marital finances are shared. If you think your spouse intends to start divorce proceedings in another country, you should seek family law advice urgently as you may wish to start divorce proceedings in England or Wales before they do.

This is known as a petition race. The only ground reason for divorce is that your marriage has irretrievably broken down. Irretrievably means the marriage has broken down permanently and cannot be fixed. To prove that your marriage has broken down irretrievably, you must state one of five facts in your divorce petition:. Adultery — your husband has committed adultery with another woman or your wife has committed adultery with a man. Adultery is sexual intercourse between a married person and a person of the opposite sex who is not their spouse.

If your husband or wife admits to adultery and agrees to the divorce proceedings, the divorce is likely to be accepted by the court. If your spouse does not admit to committing adultery you will need to provide the court with evidence of the adultery. In addition to the adultery, you must also prove that you find it intolerable to live with your spouse, either because of the adultery or because of some other behaviour.

Intolerable means that you cannot bear to be in the marriage any longer. If you continue to live with your husband or wife for 6 months after you find out about their adultery, then you cannot use that incident of adultery as the reason to divorce. However, if you do so you will have to send the divorce papers to that person as well as to your spouse.

This will cause additional expense and delay if they do not co-operate. Unreasonable behaviour — your husband or wife has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with them. Unreasonable behaviour can include a wide range of behaviour from domestic violence to withholding love and affection. It may be helpful to include the first, the worst and the most recent incident of the unreasonable behaviour during the marriage.

If you continue to live as a couple for 6 months after the last incident of unreasonable behaviour, it may be harder to prove to the court that you cannot reasonably be expected to live with your spouse. You need to show that your spouse left you in order to end your relationship, without your agreement and without a good reason, for at least two years.

This is difficult to prove so it is very unusual to use this fact. Two years separation with consent — you and your spouse have been separated for a continuous period of two years and you both agree to the divorce.

You need not necessarily have lived in separate homes but you need to have had separate lives, for example, eating and doing domestic chores separately and sleeping in different rooms.

Your spouse must agree to the divorce on the basis that you have been separated for a continuous period of two years. It is a good idea to check whether your spouse will agree before sending your divorce petition to the court.

Five years separation — you and your spouse have been separated for a continuous period of five years. If you have been separated for 5 years you are entitled to apply for divorce, even if your spouse does not consent. Your spouse can only oppose the divorce if they can argue that ending the marriage would result in serious financial or other hardship.

How much will it cost? If you are on a low income the court may waive or reduce the fee if you complete an Application for a fee Remission form EX This form is available from your local County Court or can be downloaded from www.

Many law firms now offer a fixed fee for divorces. Legal aid is not usually available for divorce. See our legal guides Family Court proceedings: where can I get advice and support?

You will need to decide whether you wish to include a claim for your legal costs in your divorce petition. The court may order that your spouse should pay all or some of your costs, or you might be able to agree to share the costs between you. The application process To apply for divorce you must complete a divorce petition Form D8 , setting out details of your marriage and of the fact you are relying on see Grounds for divorce above.

You can get a petition form and Notes for Guidance from your local County Court or from www. Objecting to the other spouse's request for divorce is itself an irreconcilable difference that would justify the divorce. However, a spouse can prevent a fault divorce by convincing the court that the allegations of fault are false. Or, a spouse might admit wrongdoing but present a defense or reason for their behavior, such as:. In practice, spouses rarely use these defenses. That's because proving a defense often requires producing witnesses or other evidence, and involves a lot of time and expense.

And, in the end, these defenses usually fail: Most courts will eventually grant the divorce anyway because there is a strong public policy against forcing people to stay married when they don't wish to be.

All states have a residency requirement that one or both spouses must meet to be eligible to file for a divorce. Often, states require the filing spouse to be a state resident for at least three months or even as long as a year.

The filing spouse must provide proof of residence for the required length of time. Only a few states have no time requirement for resident status being a resident at the time you file is enough.

If you think that your spouse might file for divorce in another state, consider trying to be the first to file —in your own state. Rarely is a divorce settled in one court appearance, and if your spouse files elsewhere, you could rack up a lot of traveling expenses. Also, after the divorce is over, you must file any modifications to the divorce decree, including the property settlement agreement and arrangements for child custody and support, in the state that heard your divorce, which could require you to travel out of state for years to come.

Get more tips on the divorce process in How to Divorce. If one spouse meets the residency requirement of a state or country such as having lived there from six months to a year , a divorce obtained there is valid, even if the other spouse lives somewhere else.

The courts of all states will recognize the divorce. However, a court's decisions regarding property division, alimony, custody, and child support might not be valid unless the court had jurisdiction over the legal power to make decisions about the nonresident spouse. The nonresident spouse falls under the court's jurisdiction when:. If you receive divorce documents from a foreign country, you might want to consult an attorney about whether your state court or the foreign court governs the issues.

Whether a foreign court has the power to decide issues in your divorce depends on many factors, such as which particular country heard the case, where the parties lived and for how long, and whether children are involved.

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Grow Your Legal Practice. Meet the Editors. No-Fault Divorce vs. For example, if you found out your spouse was hiding a vacation home or an overseas account after the final judgment. You could petition for these assets to be divided. The second major reason is a significant change in circumstances for either your or your spouse that warrant a change in the divorce agreement.

For example, if you discovered your spouse was involved with drugs or other illegal behavior after the divorce, you could argue for a change in the custody or visitation orders. If you want to significantly change a divorce judgment, you can appeal the entire divorce decision.

All trial court decisions can be appealed to a higher court, but it is rare for the appellate court to reverse a lower court on a divorce judgment. The strongest arguments in appeal are related to the legality of the trial and whether proper legal procedure was followed. If you or your attorney believe that the judgment went against you due to an improper following of the law during the trial, then you may have solid grounds for appeal. The greatest advantage of the appeal compared to a modification is that it takes place in a different court with a different judge who may see the circumstances of your divorce differently and rule more in your favor.

Attempting to change the grounds for a divorce or change a divorce judgment after it is finalized is not an easy process, but it can be done. Please fill out the form below to receive a free consultation, we will respond to your inquiry within hours guaranteed. Category Blog Uncategorized.