Amend or issue new petition

Hi
Can anyone help clarify this for me please?
My original divorce petition was submitted on grounds of unreasonable behaviour early 2011. In July 2013 it was dismissed and new petition submitted on grounds of 2 years separation with consent.
Am I correct in thinking that the original petition could have been amended rather than dismissed?
I have recently been advised that I could amended the 2 years consent to 5 years without consent and have successfully done so.
I am now thinking that I should have amended original and not dismissed it and save myself some money am I correct?
Thanks in advance

Hello

Thanks for your post

It is possible for a Petition to be amended- it does not necessarily have to be dismissed altogether, if one party wishes to change the grounds.
Generally, if the petition has been amended it will have been edited with red pen. It should also say 'Amended petition'in capitals and underlined on the front. The edited sections will also be underlined in red.
Permission needs to be sought from the court and a fee of £95 needs to be paid by one of the parties to the divorce.
As far as I am aware, it appears to be far cheaper to amend the petition rather than dismiss and start over with a new D8.

Hope this has been useful,

Flo1