International Divorce Lawyers 2025

Since April 2022, divorce in England & Wales is no-fault. You don’t need to blame anyone – you just state that the marriage (or civil partnership) has broken down irretrievably.

What this means for you:

1. Single ground only: that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.
2. Sole or joint application to the Family Court.
3. 20-week reflection period before applying for the conditional order.
4. Six weeks later, you can apply for the final order – and your divorce is complete.

Yes – you can apply for a UK divorce if you meet certain criteria such as whether the habitual residence of either you or your partner is in this jurisdiction or whether either one or both of you is domiciled in England or Wales. It may be though that, in your particular case, applying for a dissolution in another country could serve you better.

Not necessarily. If your divorce only covers the certificate of divorce, travel may not be needed. But if you’re resolving financial matters (assets, maintenance, pensions) or child arrangements, you may need to attend in person or virtually.

International divorces often involve complex financial matters. If the case is in the UK:

• Full financial disclosure is required to aid negotiations.
• After an initial court hearing (the First Directions Appointment), if matters are still unresolved, negotiations will continue up to the second court hearing (the Financial Dispute Resolution Appointment/FDR – which may be conducted outside of court if both parties agree).
• If agreement isn’t reached at or by the date of the FDR, a final financial hearing at court will be listed.
• Courts can order maintenance, lump sums, property transfers, and pension sharing – all to achieve a fair outcome.

Our team works closely with overseas lawyers so your interests are fully represented wherever assets are located.

If children are involved, we will help you to agree arrangements for their care to be set out in Child Arrangements Orders covering with whom the children will live and how much time they will spend or have contact with the other parent (if they are not to live with both parents in each of their separate homes). We aim to help you find solutions that work across borders, minimising stress for both you and your children.

A straightforward divorce could take 6–8 months from application to final order.

If there are financial or child arrangement issues, it could extend to around 12 months, depending on complexity and delays from foreign courts.

Every case is different. For an undefended divorce in the UK, our fees start from £2,000 plus VAT, plus the court fee of £612.

If financial or child matters are involved, such costs will necessarily increase having regard to factors like:

• The need to contact/work with overseas lawyers.
• The number of hearings or the extent of out of court negotiations.
• How quickly agreements can be reached.

For a more routine out‑of‑court financial resolution, expect £5,000–£10,000 plus VAT, with the costs of more complex cases resolved out of court likely to exceed £25,000 plus VAT.

Whilst it is more difficult to provide estimates of costs where there are or will likely be court proceedings, at your first meeting, further to a review of the issues and assets, we’ll provide a clear costs plan and time estimate to the first court hearing and a best estimate to a possible final hearing.  Our costs estimates are always reviewed with you in advance of work being carried out, so you always know where you stand.

International divorce doesn’t have to be terrifying.

Call us on 020 3405 0184
Email [email protected]