Introduction

The act of untangling your life from another and ending a marriage can be a long and challenging process. There are multiple reasons for choosing to pursue divorce over other methods of separation, however, certain conditions must be met first to begin the process of divorce.

• You must be married for a minimum of a year;
• Your marriage must be legally recognised in the UK (or the UK is your own or your partner's home base); and
• You must also be able to demonstrate that your relationship is permanently irreconcilable. 

 

To prove that your relationship is broken down, it must fit under the following reasons.

(a) Adultery

Your husband or wife has sexual intercourse with someone else of the opposite sex. It is important to note that you cannot apply this reasoning if you stayed together six months after discovering this fact (this clause does not apply n same-sex marriages). 

 (b) Unreasonable behaviour

Your husband or wife has behaved in such a way that you cannot reasonably be expected to continue living together. This could range from or include abuse, alcoholism, drug abuse or a refusal to pay towards shared living expenses.

(c) Desertion

Your husband or wife has left you at least two years before you apply for divorce. You can still claim desertion even if you have lived together for six months.

(d) You have been separated for at least two years

You can apply for a divorce if you've been separated for at least two years. However, both parties must agree to the divorce in writing. It is possible to show that you have been separated even though you may live in the same home. To meet this criterion, you will have to show that you do not live as a couple (e.g., sleeping and eating separately).

(e) You have been separated for at least five years

You can apply for a divorce if you've been separated for at least five years before applying, even if your partner disagrees. 

Before your application

Before you begin to put together your application, you will need to consider arrangements for children (if you have any). This ranges from where a child may reside to child maintenance. You can also divide your money and property. But, again, there's a deadline if you wish to make this legally binding. You can usually avoid attending court hearings if you agree on concerns regarding children, money, property and the reasons for ending the marriage.

 

How we can help

The process of getting a divorce is a difficult period for all involved, Lestons can assist clients in various ways and seek to resolve the myriad of issues that accompany a divorce. We would have two teams, (one legal and one third-party independent financial advisors) who will work together to put forward workable solutions which we hope both sides can agree on. We can act for both parties in the divorce, it would simply mean that each side has its own team, taking instruction from their respective client.

The large cost legal fees that have been in the newspapers come around with lawyers writing letters (at £100+ a time) over insignificant and minute details.

 

With both sides working for Lestons means that there is a significant saving on dealing with small issues as instead of prolonged correspondence they can simply arrange a combined video call with everyone involved and sort things out without recourse to expensive letters and so on. The one certainty in a prolonged, messy, bitter divorce is that the lawyer is usually the only winner so it seems counter-productive to prolong matters and just come to a speedy resolution.

In regard to the third-party financial advisor on the team please note we make no commission from these referrals. To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by simply clicking on the link at the top of the page, you will then need to deposit a sum equal to one hour’s usage, upon receipt of these funds you will be assigned your personal caseworker who will telephone you to discuss the matter and make suggestions on how to proceed.

 

Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our appointed experts and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.