seperatio xn/divorce advice please

[yellowbean]

I am seperating from my H... and need to understand the process please.... I will file for divorce on the grounds of 2 years seperation.... so...

Do I need to register this somewhere now?

Can time living in the same house but seperately count? And is there really no way of speeding this up... we have effectively been living sperate lives for a year now!

We have a house and assets... how/where can i get advice about what is in mine and the childrens best interests in terms of how these are split?.. is it better for me to have the house and not our savings?

thats my initial questions if any legals minds can help... that would be great, thank you

[countydurhamlass]

you complete your divorce petition and file it at court with the court fee. your dh then receives the papers with an acknowledgement of service to complete and return to teh court.

time living in the same house can count but only if you lived separate lives, eg made your own meals, washed your own clothes etc.... you will state this in your affidavit in support when you apply for your decree nisi (the next stage when your dh has returned the acknowledgement of service to the court).

there is no way of speeding things up. once you have your decree nisi you must wait six weeks and one day before you can apply for your decree absolute.

the best thing to do is see a solicitor, especially as there is finances involved. you will need to enter into a consent order to finalise financial matters as your Decree Absolute in divorce will not finalise financial matters

[mumblechum1]

You don't need to register your separation anywhere but as County Durham says, you need to be able to swear or affirm within the divorce proceedings that you have been living separate lives since a specified date, so no joint cooking, shopping, laundry, obviously separate bedrooms and ideally separate living rooms.

If you go down this route you can formalise the finances ahead of the divorce by entering into a separation deed. It can cover everything except pensions and is legally enforceable so long as you have provided full disclosure and both taken legal advice.

The alternative would be for either of you to issue proceedings now on the basis of unreasonable behaviour.