No-Fault Divorce Explained: The Timeline From Application to Final Order

Since April 2022, getting divorced in England and Wales no longer requires proving your spouse did something wrong - but the process still has a fixed minimum timeline that catches many people by surprise, and a set of terminology that replaced older, more familiar terms.

What ‘no-fault’ actually changed

Before April 2022, divorcing couples had to cite one of five specific grounds - adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion, two years’ separation with consent, or five years’ separation without consent - turning many divorces into an adversarial process of assigning blame. Since the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 came into force, you simply state the marriage has irretrievably broken down, with no need to prove why or assign fault to either party.

New terminology

• Decree Nisi is now called the Conditional Order.
• Decree Absolute is now called the Final Order.
• The person applying is the applicant; if applying jointly, both parties are applicant 1 and applicant 2.

The mandatory timeline

• Application submitted - the £612 court fee is paid, and the application is issued.
• 20-week mandatory reflection period - you cannot apply for a Conditional Order before 20 weeks have passed since the application was issued. This period cannot be shortened, even if both parties are certain and in complete agreement.
• Conditional Order - applied for after the 20-week period, confirming the court is satisfied you’re entitled to divorce; typically takes a further 4-5 weeks to process.
• 6-week minimum wait - you must wait at least 6 weeks after the Conditional Order before applying for the Final Order.
• Final Order - this legally ends the marriage.

The absolute legal minimum from application to Final Order is 26 weeks (roughly 6 months), though in practice, most divorces take 6-9 months once processing times and any complications are factored in.

Why the reflection period exists

The 20-week period is specifically designed to give couples time to reflect on the decision and, crucially, to start resolving practical matters - financial settlements and, if applicable, child arrangements - alongside the divorce process itself, rather than rushing straight to a Final Order before these are sorted out.

Sole vs joint applications

You can apply alone (a sole application, where your spouse must be formally served with the application but doesn’t need to agree to the divorce itself) or jointly with your spouse. Joint applications tend to process somewhat faster on average and allow the £612 fee to be split between you - though either party can switch a joint application to a sole one at certain stages if circumstances change.

Why finishing the divorce before finances are settled can be risky

It’s entirely possible to reach the Final Order before financial matters are resolved - but doing so without a financial consent order in place leaves you vulnerable to a financial claim from your ex-spouse, potentially years later, on future earnings, a future inheritance, or business success (see our dedicated article on consent orders). Many solicitors advise delaying the Final Order application until financial matters are settled, specifically to avoid this risk - and remarrying before finances are settled can, in some circumstances, restrict certain future claims, adding another reason to sequence things carefully.

Civil partnership dissolution follows the same pattern

Ending a civil partnership (dissolution, rather than divorce) follows essentially the same no-fault process, timeline, and £612 court fee as divorce, with the equivalent financial and children’s arrangements needing the same attention.

The bottom line

No-fault divorce has removed the need to prove blame, but the process still has a fixed minimum 26-week timeline that can’t be shortened regardless of how amicable the split is. Using the 20-week reflection period productively to sort out finances and any children’s arrangements - rather than treating it as dead time - makes the overall process considerably smoother.