WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR DIVORCE?
All you that is necessary should you wish to divorce your spouse, is to make an appointment with us for a consultation, during this consultation we will take full instructions from you and where after, we will proceed to attend to the necessary on your behalf.
Once you have furnished us with instructions to institute the necessary divorce action on your behalf against your spouse, we will then draft your summons and particulars of claim for divorce. These summons and particulars of claim will then be issued at the relevant Court and thereafter sent to the Sheriff for service on your spouse. In this summons and particulars of claim, you will be the Plaintiff and your spouse, the Defendant unless you are defending a divorce initiated by your spouse.
Once your summons for divorce has been served on your spouse by the relevant Sheriff, your spouse has 10 Court days to defend the Summons. If your spouse fails to defend the summons for divorce, we will proceed to obtain a date on the uncontested divorce roll for the hearing of your divorce, which date will be within a month or two from the time that application is made for same (this will depend on the roll of the court). On the date Court date, you will then sit in the relevant Court to wait for your matter to be called. When that happens, you will be directed to the witness box to administer the oath of Court. Thereafter, your advocate will lead your evidence, resulting in the appropriate Final Order of Divorce and other appropriate ancillary relief being granted. Once this Order has been granted, you are free to leave. In about one or two weeks after the hearing we will receive this typed Court Order from Court, where after you will be furnished with a copy thereof. It may then be necessary to proceed to enforce this Court Order against your spouse.
If your spouse defends the summons for divorce, he or she then has 20 Court days to file a plea. Your spouse’s Plea, will probably be accompanied by a Claim in Reconvention. You then also have 20 Court days to answer your spouse’s Claim in Reconvention. This answer by you of your spouse’s Counterclaim is called your Plea to the Defendant’s claim. You will the wait 15 Court days for the Pleadings to close, where after a Hearing date will be applied for.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO FINALIZE A DIVORCE?
Generally, this depends on whether the matter is a defended matter, or not and whether or not your divorce is capable of settlement. Depending on the Court in which your matter is pending, it can take approximately 10 months or less from the day you file for divorce against your spouse, to the trial date for the hearing if your divorce is a defended action.
Any time between this period, your divorce can be settled resulting in it taking one to two months for your matter to be finalized on the uncontested divorce roll.
If your spouse does not defend your divorce action, it would also take one to two months to finalize same on the uncontested divorce roll.
CAN MY SPOUSE BE COMPLED TO PAY FOR MY DIVORCE?
In any Court case litigation costs can be recovered either on a party scale and party or attorney and own client scale.
Should you be succeeful in obtaining a costs order against your spouse in your divorce, and should you succeed in recovering these costs from him/her, the effect hereof would be that your spouse would pay your costs on the scale as between party and party and that you would pay the difference between your costs on the scale as between attorney and own client and the amount paid by your said spouse.
N:B you are always liable for the payment of your entire attorney and own client costs until such time as a portion thereof is recovered from your spouse, if ever.
In order to enable us to attend to the necessary in respect of your divorce, we require you to place us in funds. As a result hereof, when you initially consult with us to institute or defend a divorce action on your behalf, we make an arrangement with you to pay an initial deposit to ourselves.
What particulars and documentation do you require from me in order to enable you to issue summons for divorce against my spouse, on my behalf?
Usually all the particulars which we require in this regard will fall within your knowledge and/or will be in your possession when you consult us to either institute or defend a divorce action on your behalf.
For completeness sake, you may print and complete the client information form on this website to make sure that you have all the required information for this purpose.
Although not always strictly necessary, it would be a good idea to furnish us with copies of the following documentation for us to retain on your file when you first consult us to institute or defend a divorce action on your behalf:
Copy of your identity book;
Copy of your spouse’s identity book;
Copy of your marriage certificate;
Copy of the birth certificate/s of your child/ren, if applicable;
Copy of your antenuptial contract, if applicable;