D36/D11 - How do I apply for a Decree Absolute?

Hi

Hope someone out there can help or offer some advice

My partner is the Respondent in his divorce, we did have a solicitor initially to help us but because of the legal bills that he was receiving and because he is only on a very low income we disengaged the solicitor and decided to try to do it ourselves!

His ex applied for divorce on the grounds of unreasonable behaviour. The Decree Nisi was ordered in January, as we understand it, his ex hasn''t yet applied for the Decree Absolute. The 3 months, 6 weeks and 1 day has passed so we printed off and completed D36 and sent it into the courts but they have today written back to us stating that we cannot apply using this procedure and that we must complete a D11 form instead??

My partner has children with his ex, he pays regular maintenance to her via the CSA and he does have some limited access with his children, however, he is currently going through the courts to gain proper access with them, as his ex has made this particularly difficult.

His ex''s solicitors has requested financial information from him because she wants to come to some financial settlement, even though he doesn''t have anything (because she took it all!)and she has a higher paid job than him! He was ready to exchange information months ago, but she stalled for whatever reason, and now she wants to exchange again.

Does the financial side of things have to be sorted out before the Decree Absolute can be processed??

Is he better to wait to apply for the Decree Absolute until all the financial stuff is settled??

We are confused as to why he has to fill in the D11, if this is the write form can anyone help or advice on how to fill it in because the questions seem more relevant to the applicant??

We just want to be able to get on with our lives, and move on especially as we have a baby on way!

Does the financial side of things have to be sorted out before the Decree Absolute can be processed??

No.

Is he better to wait to apply for the Decree Absolute until all the financial stuff is settled??

It can sometimes be better to wait for the decree Absolute.

There are two sets of circumstances where it is better to hold off making the decree absolute. The first concerns pensions. If your partner would have rights to his ex''s pension as her widower, and the decree is made Absolute, he can''t be her widower and may lose these benefits.

The other could matter if the former marital home is in the sole name of his ex. Your partner has the right to return to it with the leave of the Court. If he divorces her those rights are lost.

On an educated guess, I''d say that neither of these are likely to apply. But in some cases it can be crucial, especially with a wife who lives in the former marital home where she is not the owner.

Your partner''s ex has a perfect right to ask for financial disclosure, as does he. No way round it.

Your partner should also consider an urgent review of his will, if he has one. If not he should consider making one.

LMM

Hi

Thanks for your reply - much appreciated

My partner isn''t interested in any financial gain from his ex, he just wants a Clean Break from her.

I''m not sure if she has any private pensions, but he wouldn''t want to claim on them anyway. The only thing he wants from his ex is some proper access with his children.

Just to confirm, the former marital home is in his ex''s name (she has been married and divorced before and bought a property after that). My partner did contribute towards the household during the time that they were together/married (they was only married for 2 years) and when we was receiving legal advice from his solicitor she did state that he could make a claim on the property if he wanted to.

All monies including savings that they had in joint bank accounts were taken by his ex when they separated.

They didn''t have any joint debts or bills, any credit cards or loans etc were all in his ex''s name.

We understand that both parties are entitled to request financial disclosers, we feel that his ex is pursuing this because she want''s to ''nosey'' into my situation. His ex is fully aware that he has nothing to his name, and how much he earns, so it all seems a bit of a pointless exercise to me? Me and my partner have kept all our finances separate (again on the legal advice of a solicitor)and I have point blank refused to disclose any of my financial information because it is nothing to do with her or their divorce. Me and my partner met after they had separated, so I refuse to be ''dragged'' into it!!!

The only asset that me and my partner share is our house, we recently bought a house together, we had to move with baby coming as our rented property wasn''t suitable. But I had a Deed of Trust made up to protect my deposit that I put down on the house.

Neither me or my partner have a will, do we need to get one drawn up?

What is the best way forward/next steps that we need to consider?

What is his ex trying?

Thanks in advance for any comments and help

Regards