Divorce under the new law

You can still end your marriage by getting a divorce. This means that the marriage is officially ended.

https://www.gov.uk/separation-divorce

You may not want a divorce, in which case you can choose a legal separation so you can live apart without ending the marriage or have the marriage annulled if it counts as ‘defective’ or is not legally valid in some way.

You can also officially end your civil partnership, or choose a legal separation instead if you want to live apart without ending the civil partnership.

A family solicitor can help you decide which option may be best for you and how to pursue it, whilst minimising costs.

You can usually avoid going to family court hearings if you can make your own agreements about children, finances or property. However, you are still required to send legal paperwork to a court to officially end your relationship, or make legally binding agreements.

You can get help agreeing (using family mediation, or family arbitration, or collaborative law). It may be possible to get legal aid for mediation. You can usually only get legal aid for court costs if you are separating from an abusive partner.

Citizen’s Advice also offer some useful pages on getting help sorting out money when you separate: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/sorting-out-money/

And also on making child arrangements, which means making agreements about your children when you separate https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/making-agreements-about-your-children/.