Does your decree absolute look the part?

Goose_Grass

Apologies, this might be a silly thing to worry about.

I requested a copy of my recent decree absolute from the family court during the pandemic, by email, as directed by gov.uk. 

The court returned an email attachment that's genuine, I know, but not very 'official' looking.  It's a pdf of a photocopy scan which doesn't appear to be "stamped" in any way, rather the imagery is part of the form, as best I can tell.  I've compared it to images online (all celebrities, sadly), and those mostly have coloured, askew seals, like they were actually stamped.

This summer I'll have to ask a solicitor abroad to validate this document (well, a print-out of it, probably) so that I can get a marriage license in that foreign jurisdiction.  Maybe it won't be a problem, but I'm pretty unimpressed looking at it, and I know it's real.

Is this what everyone gets in the UK these days?   Did I get fobbed-off with something under lockdown that I could now replace with a better specimen for £11, or would I just get the same sad-looking .pdf?

Sorry to ask, it's my first (and hopefully last) decree absolute...

tightauldgit

I barely paid any attention to mine when it arrived but I'm pretty sure it just looked like a normal court document no fancy stamp or anything just a letter. 

Would getting it certified in the UK help with the marriage license overseas? 

Goose_Grass

That is an interesting idea, @tightauldgit thanks.  I might certify a copy and take another as-is.

I'm worried about this because once I'm there presenting my documentation I'm no longer here, handy to the courts and UK solicitors.  Would be most inconvenient to discover there is a problem after I've left.

ironlady2022

I got the copy through post and emailed from my sol. It was nothing fancy but i have printed several times for holidays. 

tightauldgit

Goose_Grass said:

That is an interesting idea, @tightauldgit thanks.  I might certify a copy and take another as-is.

I'm worried about this because once I'm there presenting my documentation I'm no longer here, handy to the courts and UK solicitors.  Would be most inconvenient to discover there is a problem after I've left.

In that case for the sake of a few quid I would get a UK solicitor to certify a copy. 

Do you know the solicitor you are using overseas? You could email all the documents to them to confirm that they will be acceptable?

Goose_Grass

I've tried emailing the overseas solicitor's office but they've not replied (small job, busy office, I suspect).  I shall call and try to get the information out of them.  I did offer to email the documents when I inquired.  An accompanying local solicitor's letter is a requirement of the government's licensing office where the decree absolute is foreign, which is fair enough.

TBagpuss

They don't look very fancy.
A long time ago the stamp used to be red, then it was black.

With more recent divorces they are produced as pdf's so the stamp is part of the document, so it sounds pretty standard . 


If it is older then the court probably only has digitised copies so it will have been printed off from that. As it was emailed, perhaps you could print the email so that anyone you are procuding it to can see it was sent from a court address? 

Goose_Grass

Thanks for the information and the suggestion, @TBagpuss I shall do that.