It contains the information which is required by the court and sets out the basis of the divorce. It finishes by asking the court to dissolve the marriage. It is often sensible to try to obtain the other person's consent to the petition before starting the divorce. The court opens a file for the papers and sends the divorce petition out in the post to the Respondent. Divorce proceedings are usually held in private.
Most divorces are undefended.
In the case of a divorce based on allegations of unreasonable behaviour, it is usually quite alright for the Respondent to say that the allegations are not admitted but that the divorce will be undefended. The Next Step The Petitioner then has to ask the court to progress the divorce. Once the statement has been sent to the court, the judge will look at all of the papers. The court will send out a piece of paper saying when the decree nisi will be formally pronounced. A short while after the pronouncement of the decree nisi, the court office will type the decree nisi document and post it to the parties.