Acknowledgement of service

Husband has sent acknowledgement back to court on the 9th November (it was issued by court on 12th October) so at the last minute. he has not said yes or no to defending but has sent a letter in with acknowledgement to the court just saying he takes issue with my allegations (although he wont deny it) as he knows I have proof. Court have written to him saying he has not completed the acknowledgement properly.

The situation is "what do I do". Can I ask court to proceed as I know he is going to mess around and delay it or do I have to wait for him to notify the court about whether he is going to defend it, which I am quite sure he will not. He just wants me to alter my petition and put under unreasonable behaviour what he wants and I am not prepared to do that.

Is there not a time limit from the petition being sent to him to when he has to acknowledge and send in his defence. He sent in his acknowledgement 28 days after petition was sent by court and did not even tick the box whether he was going to defend, just a letter complaining about my allegations. It is now 32 days since petition was sent.

I am going to go to the court tomorrow and ask what is happening, any advice would be appreciated.

Write him a letter giving him seven days to complete the AoS and warning him if he does not you will apply for deemed service.

If he refuses to complete it then your next move is to apply to court for deemed service, you know he got the D8 and so do court so its a simple process, in effect the judge will allow the divorce even though he has not signed/completed the AoS.

Thank You. I did in fact go to Court on Friday and fill in a Deemed service form, I think D11 with evidence attached that he had received the petition, paid the £45 fee so hopefully I did the right thing and the Judge will allow the process to proceed. It was only after filling in this application and submitting it that I found out they had just received his incomplete AOS and letter. So have I done the right thing. Should I now just wait to hear from Court or should I contact them. The sooner I get this controlling bully out of my life the better!!

I am not asking him for the costs of the divorce, it was a short marriage, no assets, children or property. There is a lot to be said "marry in haste repent at leisure"

You`ve done it the right way so now its just a waiting game, if you give it a week or so and call the court and ask if your application is in the judges box, this should give you a good idea of how long it will take.

Thank You, you have put my mind at rest as I thought I might have done the wrong thing by filling in application for deemed service when he had sent in AOS late and incomplete. I will sleep better tonight knowing I did not do the wrong thing, had a rubbish night last night worrying about it.

This forum has been a lifesaver, Thank you everybody that has been so kind enough to leave answers for me on my DIY divorce.