Form D8N

WHAT IS FORM D8N USED FOR?

Form D8N is used to start court proceedings for an annulment – also called a decree of nullity. This is a court order stating that a marriage is null and void and it never took place/never existed. The process to get an annulment of your marriage is very similar to the process of getting a divorce. For a decree of nullity to be granted you must prove that your marriage did not comply with the legal requirements of marriage in the first place. This could be any one of the following –

• One party was suffering from a mental disorder when the marriage took place.
• One party had a lack of capacity to agree to the marriage.
• One party was forced into marriage or was under duress.
• There was a lack of consent.
• The marriage has not been consummated (except same sex marriage) since the marriage took place.
• The marriage rites were performed by a person not legally authorised to.
• Bigamy.
• Polygamy.
• Incestuous marriage.
• One party was under the age of 16 years when the marriage took place.
• One party has a sexually transmitted disease when the marriage took place.
• One party was pregnant by someone else when the marriage took place.
• One party was in the process of transitioning to a different gender

You can apply for an annulment within 3 years of your marriage. After this time you will need to get permission from the court to start proceedings.

There is no minimum time you need to be married to apply for an annulment. This is different from divorce where you will need to be married for more than 1 year to start divorce proceedings. 

ARE THERE ANY GOVERNMENT OR OUR OWN L.I.P HELP GUIDES OR WRITE UPS TO HELP YOU COMPLETE FORM D8N?

At present there are no government guides available to help you complete form D8N.

You can read our L.I.P Help Guide for Annulment. Please click on the link below.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR ANNULMENT.

If you have any questions or concerns you can contact Bury St Edmunds Regional Divorce Unit, Triton House, St Andrew’s Street North, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1TR. You can call them on 0300 303 0642 Monday to Friday – 8am to 6pm. You can email on  divorceunitbse@justice.gov.uk

WHAT IS THE FEE TO SEND FORM D8N TO THE COURT AND HOW TO PAY FOR IT?

The fee to send form D8N to the court is £593.00.

• Please attach a cheque or postal order for £593.00 made payable to HM Courts & Tribunal Service.
• If you want to pay by credit or debit card, please tick the box on page 21 of your form D8N. If you have ticked the box that says you will pay over the phone please call the court after 10 days on 0300 303 0642 (8am – 6pm Monday to Friday, 8am – 2pm Saturday). Alternatively you can give your email address so the court can email you details on how to pay. 
• If you are on certain benefits or on a low income, you can apply to the court to have your £593.00 fees paid for you. The form you need is called form EX160. You can complete and submit the form online or download a hardcopy from the government website. You will need to attach proof of your benefits, your income and/or 3 months bank statements. The government website also has the EX160A guidance notes which you can download and read to help you complete form EX160. You can send the completed form EX160 with all attachments along with your completed form D8N for the court to consider. Or you could have sent your completed form EX160 to the court in advance and received a ‘help with fees’ reference number starting with HWF to put in the box on page 21 of your form D8N.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM EX160 (Here, you can access both form EX160 & EX160A guidance notes) 

HOW TO COMPLETE FORM D8N AND WHERE TO SEND IT. 

The words ‘to serve’ are used below. ‘Serving court papers to your ex-partner’ means that they must receive a copy of your application form and any other relevant court papers that require them to respond, comply with directions or attend court. Depending upon the court application you have submitted you can either do this yourself or more than likely the family court will do this for you. 

• NOTE 1 – The ex-partner completing and submitting form D8N to the court is called the applicant. The other ex-partner is known as the respondent.
• NOTE 2 – If there is not enough space to complete your answer on form D8N then please continue on extra sheets of paper and attach them to your form. Please remember to write your name, date of birth, and question number on the top of the sheet.
• NOTE 3 – You can complete form D8N online and then print a hard copy. Alternatively you can download it, print it and then complete by black pen. 
• NOTE 4 – Please send at least 3-4 copies of form D8N and any attachments to the court. The court will distribute the copies accordingly. One copy is required for the court and one for each party in the proceedings.
• NOTE 5 – Please keep a copy of your form D8N and all attachments for yourself outside of the ones you send to the court.
• NOTE 6 – The words ‘to serve your ex-partner’ below men that they must be given/receive a copy of your application form and any relevant court documents that require them to be informed, respond, comply with court directions of attend court. 
• Form D8N is 22 pages long. 
• Section 1 – Your Application 
  • Part 1.1 will ask you whether you are applying for an annulment in respect of your marriage or civil partnership. Please tick the relevant box.
  • Part 1.2 will ask whether you are attaching your original marriage certificate. This is a requirement. You cannot submit a photocopy. If you do not have your original marriage certificate you can get an original by clicking the link below. If your marriage certificate is not in English you will be asked to provide a translation that has been certified by a notary public or authenticated by a statement of truth by the person who translated the document. In cases of emergency you can submit your form D8N without your marriage certificate but send it in afterwards. You can do this by informing the court by completing and submitting form D11. There will be a separate fee to submit form D11. You must send form D11 along with your form D8N.

LINK TO GOVERNMENT WEBSITE FOR MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE

LINK TO FIND YOUR LOCAL NOTARY PUBLIC.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM D11

• Section 2 – About You
  • Part 2.1 will ask you to write your first, middle and surname. If you have changed your name since your marriage by deed poll you must attach a copy of your deed poll. If your name does not match your marriage certificate you must explain in the box provided why it does not.
  • Part 2.2 will ask you your date of birth.
  • Part 2.3 will ask you what is your gender.
  • Part 2.4 will ask if you would like to keep your contact details confidential from your ex-partner. If this is the case you must complete form C8 and leave part 2.5 blank on your form D8N. The court will not disclose your contact details to the other party in these proceedings. You yourself must ensure that all documents, evidence and paperwork you send to the court from now on must not have your contact details on them. The court will not do this for you.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM C8

• • Part 2.5 will ask for your contact details. Please do not write anything if you want to keep your contact details confidential from your ex-partner.  
  • Part 2.6 will ask you whether you have a solicitor acting for you. Parts 2.7 – 2.10 will ask you their details if you have a solicitor.
• Section 3 – About the respondent
  • Part 3.1 – You will be asked the full name of the respondent. 
  • Part 3.2 – If the respondents name has been changed by deed poll then a copy of the deed poll must be attached. If the name is different from the name on the marriage certificate, reasons must be given in the box provided.
  • Part 3.3 – will ask for the respondents date of birth.
  • Part 3.4 – will ask you the respondents gender. 
  • Part 3.5 will ask for the respondents contact details including email address for service.
  • Part 3.6 will ask is this application to be served on the respondent outside England and Wales. If so then you will need to arrange service yourself.
  • Part 3.7 – The court will serve this application on the respondent by email and a notice of proceedings will be sent by post. If you want to ask the court to serve this application by email only or you will arrange yourself to serve the respondent then you must tick the relevant box.  
  • Part 3.8 will ask if the respondent has provided a different address for the court documents to be sent to. This may be their solicitors address. Please tick the relevant box.
  • Part 3.9, 3.10, 3.11 and 3.12 will ask for the respondents solicitors details.
• Section 4 – Details of marriage 
  • Part 4.1 – will ask if your marriage took place outside of the UK.
  • Part 4.2 will ask if you are making a separate application to ask the court to start proceedings for an annulment without a marriage certificate. As stated above you can apply using form D11 informing the court you will send your marriage certificate in at a later date. If this is the case you must write where your marriage took place in the box provided. 
  • Part 4.3 will ask you for the date of your marriage.
  • Part 4.4 will ask for yours and the respondents full name as it appears on your marriage certificate.
  • Part 4.5 will ask if the details set out in your marriage certificate are correct. If they are not you will need to explain why in the box provided.
• Section 5 – Why this court can deal with your case
  • Part 5.1 will explain to you what habitual residence and domicile mean. Please read the detailed explanations and tick the box of the statement that applies to you. 
  • Part 5.2 is to be answered if you have a civil partnership or are in a same sex marriage. 
• Section 6 –  The facts
  • Pages 13 14 and 15 list many statements and reasons for your annulment that could apply to you. You must tick the relevant box.  
• Section 7 –  Statement of case 
  • You will be required to give details about the boxes you ticked in section 6. Please write in the box provided. If you need more space please continue on a separate sheet and attach it to your form D8N. Please put your name, date of birth and section number on the top of the sheet.
• Section 8 – Special assistance or facilities if you attend court
  •  Part 8.1 will ask you to write down any special assistance or facilities you may need if you attend court. An example of this is a screen, separate waiting area or entrance.
• Section 9 – Existing or previous court cases
  •  Part 9.1 will ask you if there are any UK or overseas court cases – both existing or previous –  relating to your marriage  or affecting its validity. Please give the case numbers and details in the boxes provided.
• Section 10 – Dividing your money and property – financial court orders being sought
  • You can apply for financial court orders for yourself and your children. A list of financial court orders are listed in section 10. Please click on the link below for more detail on these financial court orders 

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FINANCIAL TERMS AND FINANCIAL COURT ORDERS EXPLAINED.

• • If you and your ex-partner have reached an agreement between yourselves or through mediation on how you will split your finances, property and assets then you can both have these agreements written into a draft consent agreement. Once your form D8N has been submitted and accepted, then you can submit your draft consent agreement for the court to formalise/approve into a legally binding court order. In order to do this your draft consent agreement must be sent alongside a completed form A.
  • If you and your ex-partner have not reached an agreement with regards to your finances, property and assets then you can ask the court to decide for you both. In this case you will still have to submit form A once your form D8N has been accepted by the court and they have issued a notice of proceedings.

LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM A

• • Part 10.1 – will ask you whether you would like to apply for a financial court order for yourself and the children. If you answer ‘NO’ you can still apply for a financial court order in the future. You will lose this right once you marry someone else. 
• Section 11 – Summary of what is being applied for
  • Part 11.1 and 11.2 – please tick the relevant boxes to summarise the answers from before.
• Section 12 – Statement of truth
  • You will be asked to sign a statement of truth.
• You must send 3 copies of your form D8N, all attachments and other forms to Bury St Edmunds Regional Divorce Unit, Triton House, St Andrews Street North, Bury St Edmunds, IP33 1TR.

WHERE CAN YOU FIND FORM D8N/DOWNLOAD THIS FORM?

Please click on the link below to access form D8N from the government website. You can download a hardcopy for you to complete and send by post (signed for recorded delivery).

LINK TO GOVERNMENT WEBSITE FOR FORM D8N

WHEN WAS FORM D8N FIRST PUBLISHED AND LAST UPDATED?

Form D8N was first published by the government (HM Courts & Tribunals Service) on 01-11-2014 and was last updated on 25-07-2023.