Starting a Divorce

You’ll have to show on the Divorce Petition the reasons why you want a divorce.

To start a divorce, you or your adviser will need to fill in a ´divorce petition´.

You’ll need to fill in the form, which must include:

• your full name and address
• your husband or wife´s full name and address
• the names and dates of birth of any children you have (no matter how old they are)
• your marriage certificate

You can´t use a photocopy of your marriage certificate – it must be the original document or a copy from the register office. You can find out how to get copies of marriage certificates by following the link below.

You’ll have to show on the form the reasons why you want a divorce. These are known as supporting ‘facts’ to show ‘grounds for divorce’. You can read more about these by following the link ´Understand grounds for divorce´.

You may want a divorce because your husband or wife has commenced an extra marital relationship with someone of the opposite sex (´adultery´).

If this is the case, you can name the person they have been unfaithful with on the forms if you want to. They will get copies of the paperwork if you do choose to include their name.