Just as you don’t need two people to agree to end a relationship, you do not need your spouse’s agreement or consent to apply for a divorce. What is does mean, however, is that you will need to apply as a sole applicant.
If you have been separated from your spouse for at least twelve months and meet the requirements to apply for a divorce, you are able to apply for a divorce without your former spouse’s agreement or consent.
Once you have filed your Application for Divorce, you must then take on the sometimes difficult challenge of formally serving your former spouse. You must not serve the Application yourself. Instead, another person over the age of 18 must serve you Application on your spouse.
It is expected that your spouse will sign an ‘Acknowledgement of Service’, which is an official Court form confirming that they have received your Application for Divorce. However, not all people are particularly happy about becoming divorced and may refuse to sign the Acknowledgement. Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean you can’t get divorced.
What this does mean is that your nominated server will need to complete a section on their Affidavit of Service, another official Court document confirming that you have served your spouse with your Application for Divorce. On page 2 of the Affidavit of Service, your nominated server can mark that they handed the documents to your spouse, but he or she refused to sign the Acknowledgement of Service. The server will then need to sign the completed Affidavit of Service in the presence of a Justice of Peace and swear or affirm that the contents of their Affidavit is true and correct. This Affidavit is then filed with the Court in support of your Application for Divorce.
If all of this talk about Affidavits and Service seems a bit confusing, we have broken it down even further in our handy Personalised Divorce Application Kits from eDivorce. This kit provides you with a completed divorce application in just minutes with our simple online process. We will provide you with a personalised and completed divorce application, ready to download immediately. We include a comprehensive and easy to read Step-By-Step Divorce eGuide with every kit, including explaining all of the ins and outs of Service and Sole Applications for Divorce, to make the process simple.
Click here to find out more.
Kind Regards,
The eDivorce team
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