Not sure how it works..

Hello,

Both my wife and I are in agreement with the terms of the divorce: we take our way apart with no split of asset or money and there will be no pension of any kind. We have no children and no assets.

We got married in France (both french national) and leave in the UK and we also have a wedding contract. We don't want to apply the terms of this contract since we agree on the terms of the separation. Therefore, it is just a matter of formally informing the french authority that the contract is cancelled.

We live separately since Nov 09. As far as the rationale of the separation is concerned, we have not been in agreement about having children for a few years which then deteriorated the relation and pushed sadly our couple apart irremediably. Is this reason sufficiently explicit?

A solicitor is asking a lot of money (£1,500) to deal with the divorce.

I was wondering how we could beneficiate from the court fee remission given that my wife earns less than £10,000 per year in salary. In addition, she received dividends from her business and was wondering if those dividends count when applying for a court fee remission.

My earnings are higher than the HMRC treshold, and I am also wondering if HMRC would consider us as couple or single personn given that we don't leave together anymore.

If her earnings enable to have the remission, which one of us has to fill the Petition for it to apply.

Last question, given the circumstances described above, would you advice that we go through a solicitor or a DIY divorce?

Many thanks in advance for your time. Your response will really help me.

Kind regards,

Philipe

There is information about fee remissions in the guidance leaflet EX160A which is free to download along with the application form, EX160, from HM Court Services website. Your wife might be eligible for legal aid too.

If you are prepared to do some research and form filling it is possible to divorce yourselves. The Petition, D8, and guides D183, D184 and D185 are also available from HM Court services, as is the fees list, EX50.

When you divorce using unreasonable behaviour you need 4 or 5 reasons why it is intolerable to live together. A difference of opinion about children could be one of those reasons.

The finances are treated separately and so that no claims can be made against each other in the future any agreement needs to be turned into an order of the court. If you agree between yourselves you will need legal help to draft the order.

A good starting point would be to get a copy of the Which? guide to divorce to get an idea of the basics. You might also find the European Judicial Network section on divorce in England & Wales useful - it's possible to read it in French by using the drop down menu in the right hand top corner, but the translation is a bit odd in places.

ec.europa.eu/civiljustice/divorce/divorce_eng_en.htm


Good luck!