Old marriage divorce

jodril

Hi,
I was married briefly in 1994 and separated in 1997, my then wife moved abroad and I haven't seen or heard from her since

I am looking to get married again and would suspect I need to get that marriage annulled / divorced

I was a little shocked to discover there is a £550 court fee. Is there any way around this fee other than claiming hardship?

Pollycat

jodril wrote: »

Hi,
I was married briefly in 1994 and separated in 1997, my then wife moved abroad and I haven't seen or heard from her since

I am looking to get married again and would suspect I need to get that marriage annulled / divorced

I was a little shocked to discover there is a £550 court fee. Is there any way around this fee other than claiming hardship?

Of course you'll need to get divorced to marry again.
Unless you want to break the law and commit bigamy. It carries a sentence of up to seven years.

Re the fees - it's not a case of 'claiming hardship'.
You can get help with fees if you are on certain benefits or on a low income.
Details here:
https://www.gov.uk/divorce/file-for-divorce

You might wish to note the information on that link which says:

How to apply

To apply for a divorce you’ll need:

• your husband or wife’s full name and address
• your original marriage certificate or a certified copy (and a certified translation if it’s not in English)
• proof of your name change if you’ve changed it since you got married - for example your marriage certificate or a deed poll

You must try to find your husband or wife’s current address if you do not know it. The court will need it to send them a copy of the divorce petition.

If you don't know your current wife's address, it might make things more complicated.

The above assumes you are in England or Wales.

eastofeden

She is not your ‘then wife’, she remains your wife as you are not divorced. Really can’t imagine why you say that you ‘suspect’ you may need to divorce or get it annulled! Come on!

I endorse all of Pollycat’s good advice and useful links.

mobileron

Married again,whats the advantages.

DE_612183

you've also got 10k ( see your other post ) in euros so I don't know whether the hardship claim adds up

Gavin83

jodril wrote: »

Hi,
I was married briefly in 1994 and separated in 1997, my then wife moved abroad and I haven't seen or heard from her since

I am looking to get married again and would suspect I need to get that marriage annulled / divorced

I was a little shocked to discover there is a £550 court fee. Is there any way around this fee other than claiming hardship?

I really hope you have no significant assets otherwise it could end up costing you a lot more than £550!

Divorce isn't free and I don't know why you feel it should be. Just pay the fee and get the ball rolling.

TBagpuss

You won't be ableto get the marriage anulled, you will need to be divorced.

You will ned your wife's contact detials - it is possible to get a divorce without them but you will ned to satisfy the cout that you have taken all reasonable steps both to locate her and o bring the proceedings to her attention - this can includethings such as writing to her care of any relatives whose addresses you know, and to any e-nail addresses you have for her, searching for her (check facebook, linked in etc to see if you can find any trace of her) and potentiallydoing things such as taking out ds in the local paper of the area she is likely to be living in / was last heard of.

Is your wife a UK citizen?

jodril

I'm not planning on claiming hardship. Financially I can cover the costs but I just think £550 is a bit steep. I was looking for advice on saving some money (this is the money saving website, right?)

She is german and I cannot find her anywhere under my name or her maiden name. I haven't seen her for over 22 years.

I am hoping she has divorced without my consent so I will need to check with the court here or Germany (is it covered by EU law?)

Pollycat

jodril wrote: »

I'm not planning on claiming hardship. Financially I can cover the costs but I just think £550 is a bit steep. I was looking for advice on saving some money (this is the money saving website, right?)

She is german and I cannot find her anywhere under my name or her maiden name. I haven't seen her for over 22 years.

I am hoping she has divorced without my consent so I will need to check with the court here or Germany (is it covered by EU law?)

Er... well... you did ask about 'claiming hardship'.
Didn't you?
It really doesn't matter if you think £550 fee is 'a bit steep'.
It is the fee.
You are right...it is the 'money saving website.
But it's not the 'magic money fairy, everything is free' website.


Oh - and don't get sucked in by those adverts from companies such as these who offer what might seem - on face value - cheaper options:

https://www.divorce-online.co.uk/divorce-services/diy-divorce-services/diy-divorce/
https://www.quickie-divorce.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwusrtBRBmEiwAGBPgE9O118d5rhy6zcf75Au%20%20VeMcKmByzIjqf2PxV_5hgMTOSlX29mrazZBoC_wEQAvD_BwE


As this thread says:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/76436684#Comment_76436684
the headline price these companies offer are in addition to the £550 court fees.


It seems you need to do some more work on finding your wife.

Gavin83

jodril wrote: »

I'm not planning on claiming hardship. Financially I can cover the costs but I just think £550 is a bit steep. I was looking for advice on saving some money (this is the money saving website, right?)

She is german and I cannot find her anywhere under my name or her maiden name. I haven't seen her for over 22 years.

I am hoping she has divorced without my consent so I will need to check with the court here or Germany (is it covered by EU law?)

I didn't really ask a question but I'll do so now. Do you have any real assets to speak of, savings, property, pensions?

paddyz

If you can find her yourself you will be able to save a lot of money, you married her so you must have links to her, did you marry here or Germany

You can easily get a copy of the wedding documents here and I’m sure in Germany that info is going to be available too, try social media’s send her family letters etc

If you are already divorced I would have thought you would have been informed about it