We have been separated for two years. Can I divorce my spouse relying upon our separation?

It is unfortunate that in order to get divorced straight away without waiting for two years you have to allege fault against your spouse. There is no question that relying upon two years of separation and the consent of your spouse is a much more amicable way of commencing the proceedings and paving the way for successful negotiations with regard to financial matters.  

You do however need to be absolutely sure that your spouse will consent. If they did not consent or they simply failed to return the papers to the court you would have to pay a court fee to amend your petition to relying upon their alleged unreasonable behaviour and this would cause a delay to the proceedings and would increase your costs (although you could in these circumstances ask the court for an order that they should contribute to your costs).  

One way to reduce the chances of your spouse not consenting is to ask them to sign a statement before you send the papers to the court confirming that they agree that you have been separated for two years and they do consent. If they sign the statement you would hope that they would continue to cooperate. Even this however is not an absolute failsafe as they could still withdraw their consent at a later stage.  

The take home point here is that you should only rely upon the fact of two years of separation and consent if you are 100% sure that your spouse will cooperate.  

George Green’s Specialist Family and Divorce lawyers give advice regularly on divorce and the financial aspects of divorce.  If you wish to discuss your matter please Jane Williams on 01384 340 528 (jwilliams@georgegreen.co.uk at our Cradley Heath office.  We represent clients from the West Midlands and beyond including Dudley, Stourbridge, Cradley Heath and Wolverhampton.