How long does a final order take?
When the applicant sends the final order application to the Court, the Court should process and pronounce it the same day though it usually takes 2-3 weeks for you to receive the legal document that will dissolve your marriage. Spouses are only legally divorced once the final order has been pronounced.
If more than a year has passed since the pronouncement of the conditional order, the application is slightly more involved. It will be necessary to explain to the Court, usually in the form of a written statement, why such a length of time has elapsed; you will need to confirm that the parties have not cohabited together, or, that a child has been not been born to you in the intervening period. Often such delays in applying occur because time was needed to sort out the financial settlement.
If a divorced person later wishes to remarry, a photocopy of the final order will not suffice. A sealed, true version of the final order must be produced as evidence that a divorced person is legally free to remarry.
It is possible to be divorced and remarry without the finances having first been resolved but that person’s entitlement to a financial settlement may be lost. This is the so-called ‘remarriage trap’. It is therefore very important to take legal advice if you are considering remarrying.
