In the UK you must have been married for a year to petition the Court for divorce.  You can make a sole application or a joint application with your spouse. 

Prior to April 2022, only one of you could file for divorce. To divorce, the Petitioner had to prove that the marriage had broken down irretrievably using one of the following 5 facts:

1. Adultery by your spouse
2. Unreasonable behaviour, meaning that you cannot be reasonably expected to keep living with your spouse
3. Your spouse has left you and you have lived apart for 2 years, known as Desertion
4. You have lived apart for 2 or more years and you both agree to get divorced
5. You have lived apart for 5 years if your spouse does not consent to divorce.

This proof is no longer required, and parties can now rely on a system of no fault divorce. This removes the need to appoint blame for the breakdown of a marriage, and allows couples to make a joint divorce application.

After you have applied for a divorce and your divorce application has been issued by the court, you can apply for a Conditional Order. You will need to wait 20 weeks after your divorce application has been issued to apply. Once the court has reviewed your application, you will be sent a certificate telling you the time and date you will be granted a Conditional order. After waiting 43 days from the granting of the Conditional Order, you can then apply for a Final Order.  Once this has been granted you are officially divorced.