The Process Of Applying For A Decree Nisi Certificate If The Court Issued Your Notice Of Divorce Proceedings
Before 06-04-2022
WHAT IS A DECREE NISI CERTIFICATE?
A decree nisi is a certificate issued by the court that says the court believes you are entitled to a divorce and accepts the grounds/reasons for divorce.
If you and your ex-partner have reached an agreement on the division of your marital assets, finances or pensions, these agreements and decision will be written down on a piece of paper called a draft consent agreement. Once the court has issued your decree nisi, you and your ex-partner can submit this draft consent agreement to the court for them to legalise/approve into a legally binding consent order/court order
WHAT HAS TO HAPPEN FIRST BEFORE YOU APPLY FOR YOUR DECREE NISI CERTIFICATE?
After you have completed and sent in your form D8 divorce application to the regional court to start divorce proceedings, they will send your ex-partner a court stamped copy of your form D8 along with other forms. One of these other forms is the acknowledgement of service form D10. Your ex-partner must complete and sign this form and send it back to the court within 7 days if they are returning it online and 8 days if they or their solicitor are posting it back. The court will then send you a copy of this form D10 completed by your ex-partner. On this form, if your ex-partner has answered ‘no’ to the question ‘do you intend to defend the case?’ then you can apply for a decree nisi certificate immediately. This means that your ex-partner agrees that the divorce should go ahead and accepts your grounds/reasons. This is called an undefended divorce.
If your ex-partner has answered ‘yes’ to the question ‘do you intend to defend the case?’ this mean that they do not agree the divorce should go ahead and/or do not accept your grounds/reasons. This is called a defended divorce. In this case your ex-partner, after they have returned their form D10 to the court, will need to complete form D8B – answer to a divorce petition – and return it to the court within 21 days of the last date they needed to return their form D10 or 29 days from the date your ex-partner received the initial divorce petition form D8. There will be a court hearing which both you and your ex-partner will attend and come to an agreement. Then, you can apply for a decree nisi certificate.
The court will send you a copy of your ex-partner’s form D8B. If you do not get a copy within 29 days, please wait a few more days, then you can apply for your decree nisi certificate.
HOW DO YOU APPLY FOR A DECREE NISI CERTIFICATE?
Please follow the following steps to apply for your decree nisi certificate –
STEP 1 – DOWNLOAD YOUR D84 FORM AND FILL IT IN
You can apply for a decree nisi certificate by downloading form D84 from the government website.
This website has a Help Guide for form D84. Once you have read this page, you can click on the link below to access form D84 where it will go into detail how to complete it. The topics covered are –
- What is form D84 used for?
- Are there any government or our own L.I.P Help Guides or write ups to help you complete form D84?
- What is the fee to send form D84 to the court and how to pay for it?
- How to complete form D84 and where to send it.
- Where can you find form D84/download this form?
- When was form D84 first published and last updated?
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM D84
By completing form D84, you are informing the court that the contents of your ex-partner’s form D10 are correct. You can attach additional sheets of paper to explain your answers to questions 2, 3 and 4. Please put your name, date of birth, case number, and question number on the additional sheet and attach it to your form D84. There is no fee payable for sending in form D84. You must attach a copy of your ex-partner’s D10 form and put the letter ‘A’ in uppercase next to their signature to confirm that it is indeed their signature. If your ex-partner’s D10 form has been signed by a solicitor, then there is no need to confirm the signature.
You are required to send a statement of support form D80 with your completed form D84 to the court. There are 5 different versions of this form (D80A, D80B, D80C, D80D, D80E). You will need to complete only ONE of them. The form you use will depend upon what grounds/reasons for divorce you have stated in your initial divorce application form D8 (old version before 06-04-2022).
Form D80A – You must complete this statement of support form if the grounds for divorce is adultery.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM D80A
Form D80B – You must complete this statement of support form if the grounds for divorce is unreasonable behaviour.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM D80B
Form D80C – You must complete this statement of support form if the grounds for divorce is desertion.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM D80C
Form D80D – You must complete this statement of support form if the grounds for divorce is 2 years separation and you both consent to ending the relationship.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM D80D
Form D80E – You must complete this statement of support form if the grounds for divorce is 5 years separation.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR FORM D80E
STEP 2 – PREPARE YOUR PACKAGE, PLACE THE CONTENTS IN AN ENVELOPE, AND SEND TO THE COURT BY SIGNED FOR RECORDED DELIVERY
Please place a copy of your completed form D84, form D10 (where you have written ‘A’ next to your ex-partners signature), and form D80 (A,B,C,D, or E) statement of support in an envelope and post signed for recorded delivery. This will allow you to track your package and prove you have sent it in, in case the court loses your application.
STEP 3 – THE JUDGE WILL CONSIDER YOUR APPLICATION
Approximately 5-6 weeks after sending in your decree nisi application, the court will inform you and your ex-partner by letter of a decree nisi pronouncement date hearing where a judge will consider your application for a decree nisi certificate. Neither you nor your ex-partner need to attend this hearing unless you have cited unreasonable behaviour or adultery as the grounds for divorce and/or the costs for the initial divorce application are disputed. If this is the case, then you and your ex-partner will be asked to attend court when the decree nisi is to be pronounced. Here, the judge will decide who will pay the costs and how much of it.
At this hearing, the judge will have in front of them your form D8 (initial divorce application form), your form D84 (decree nisi application form) and form D10 (your ex-partner’s acknowledgement of service form). The judge will consider whether the marriage has broken down beyond repair and will grant a decree nisi certificate. Once granted, you and your ex-partner will both receive a form D29 (which is a decree nisi certificate) and a form D84A (a notice of decree nisi date).
If the court rejects your decree nisi application, they will send you form D79, which is a notice of refusal certificate. You will be given the reasons why a refusal certificate has been issued. More often than not the court will be asking for more information from you or to amend your original form D84 application so a decree nisi certificate can be granted. It is important that you read what the court is asking for and send it