Do Divorce Papers Need To Be Served?

If you're considering filing for divorce in the UK, you'll need to know whether you need to get divorce papers served or not. Here are a few ways you can learn how to properly serve divorce papers in the UK.

In this article, we'll focus on formal forms of serving divorce papers. In England and Wales, they are called "Deeds of Divorce". In Scotland, you will find these called "Orders of Divorce".

Is it always necessary to serve divorce papers in the UK? No, actually divorce is usually "no-fault" - you don't have to actually "serve" your spouse. They can simply file for divorce at the earliest possible time.

However, there is one exception to the rule that divorce is often no-fault - when the divorce papers were signed by both parties and were not signed or witnessed by anyone. In such cases, you may still need to serve the papers. If the person in question has decided to take their case to the High Court, then that court will also require you to serve the papers.

It is also possible to get the Courts to give you a "request" for the signature of a spouse stating that they did not sign the divorce papers, but you do need to be careful here. You need to find out exactly why the spouse failed to sign, and then go about the process of proving it.

For example, a spouse could have been advised by their solicitor not to sign the papers, or perhaps something came up which made them unable to attend. Or it could be the case that there was an issue with their driving license at the time.

In any event, if they'd deliberately failed to sign the papers, you could ask the Court to make a declaration stating that they would have signed if they'd known that they had an option to do so. It might be the case that they didn't know about the "option" - perhaps they thought that if they didn't sign the papers they would be left with nothing.

In order to do this, you would have to show them some evidence that they'd known that they had a choice, or that they hadn't. If they were able to prove that they'd knowingly ignored the option, then you could possibly make a case for what you'd argue.

If you are not sure how to get a spouse to acknowledge that they were not at fault for the failure to sign the divorce papers or how to prove it, you may want to speak to a solicitor. He or she should be able to help you here. A solicitor can demonstrate how you can get the judge to consider your case and should also be able to explain what the grounds are for making such a declaration.

In England and Wales, you do need to be careful about "forced" divorce papers, because they tend to be very demanding. They are often presented to the wife as a consequence of bad behaviour by her husband, for example.

You will need to convince the judge that this really was the outcome that the couple would have preferred if they'd been able to go ahead with the divorce. This requires an impressive set of facts - and a good lawyer who is willing to put his or her time and effort into your case.

To find out more about filing for divorce papers in the UK, we recommend that you speak to a divorce lawyer today. We also have free information on how to represent yourself in divorce proceedings in the UK.

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