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An order for costs is a court order requiring a party to pay the other party’s costs. The order can be to pay all the other party’s costs, or a proportion of them, or it can be to make a contribution of a fixed amount. In divorce cases, there are usually two separate lots of
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‘Costs’ is used by solicitors in slightly different ways depending on the context. It can mean specifically the fees charged by the solicitor, for example: “I estimate that my costs will be £500 plus VAT and disbursements.” It can mean the overall cost of a case, for example: “By the time the order was implemented,
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To pray is simply to ask. The prayer in a divorce petition is the part where the petitioner asks the court what he or she wants the court to order. Typically this will be that the marriage be dissolved and that various financial orders be made. There may also be a request that the court
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To serve a document is to ensure that the recipient receives it. Service can be personal, where the papers are handed to the recipient in person, or postal. Papers can be served by one solicitor on another by DX (for DX see 15th June). Most firms of solicitors do not accept service by email. Sometimes
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To lodge a document at the court, usually by sending it by post or DX (see post of 15th June). What happens when the court office receives the document depends on what the document is. It may require action – for example, if it is a divorce petition the court office will open a file,
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This post is best read in the context of my posts on 22nd June (decree nisi) and 29th June (decree absolute). Once a period of six weeks has elapsed from pronouncement of decree nisi, the petitioner is allowed to apply for decree absolute. There is no obligation to do so – the petitioner is usually
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You may want to read Decree Nisi first. When the decree is made absolute the divorce is finalised and the marriage is dissolved. ‘Absolute’ is an adjective, so ‘decree absolute’ is equivalent to ‘final order’. The application to make the decree absolute can be made by either the Petitioner or the Respondent, but different rules
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The court order dissolving a marriage is called a decree, and is made in two stages. The first stage is the decree nisi. ‘Nisi’ is Latin for ‘unless’. When a judge pronounces the decree nisi in a divorce case, s/he is saying that the marriage is to be dissolved unless something, for example the appearance of new
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The Document Exchange system, a private postal system used by lawyers, courts, local authorities and other organisations and paid for by annual subscription. Items are delivered overnight to a locker in an exchange near the member’s office.
If the Respondent files an Answer after receiving the divorce papers (thus turning it into a defended divorce), the Petitioner is allowed to comment on the Answer in a document called a Reply. Unless the court decides otherwise, there are no further pleadings, just Petition – Answer – Reply. Don’t forget that that the vast
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