Hi
I completed my forms. I did meet with a solicitor in advance, who
suggested that I could do it myself returning for ad-hoc advice, I've
returned once so far to discuss finances. Overall quite straight forward,
causing me to question what additional service others pay for, on the other
hand there were occassions where I struggled and needed to refer to Wiki
for clarification of expectations.
Unfortunately I didn't keep
notes from the completion process so any issues need to be recalled from
memory. Please feel free to review my postings to see what questions I
asked. In summary I managed with the combination of the Wiki overview,
Court leaflets plus forum for specifics.
One element I found
especially helpful was visiting my local court and collecting a Divorce
pack from them. This gave me the relevant forms and guidance, no more, no
less, so I knew what was required at that time and was not daunted by forms
I didn't need to complete. Once completed they also checked for omissions
so I knew at least I'd filled in all the relevant fields.
One
thing I would have liked would have been up to date electronic forms that
could have been completed and saved on my pc. The HMCS forms were in
Acrobat format, whilst reasonably well laid out, could not be saved. The
Wiki forms, whilst possible to edit, did not match the
court forms so I was reluctant to use them.
D8
P.1
- might have helped if it had been clear that
Case reference number would not be available at this point.
- 1b -
possibly the biggest stumbling block. The form suggested that maiden name
was required, whereas leaflet D184 illustrated married name, I went with
the latter.
- 3 - I was not clear of distinction between "Habitually
resident" and "Domiciled" (as prescribed in
D8 Notes, perhaps a Divorce
Dictionary might have helped).
- 5 - Children - guidance is not
explicit on the exclusion of children that are now over 18 years old.
p.3
- 13 (Particulars) - perhaps it might have helped if I'd
known how much, or little, needed to be stated to support grounds for
divorce. Ultimately I checked Wiki for examples.
p.5 Prayer
- 2 - Costs - could have been clearer on the impact of (the respondents)
legal aid on the merits of claiming costs.
- 3 -
Ancillary Relief - I refered to Wiki at this stage, I
knew I didn't want to claim myself but didn't know if I should leave open
for the respondent to claim as expected.
D8A - Statement of
Arrangements for Children
p.5
- 7a. - Maintenance - this section
appears to assume that the respondent will be paying maintenance.
p.6
- 8 - Contact - this section appears to assume that any children
remain living with the
petitioner.
Once the Petition and Statement
of Arrangements were submitted to the court, subsequent forms (D80A and
D84) were not a problem, although I recall having to ask at the court
office what to enter on D80A page 3 items 3, 4, 5 (respondent's signature).
Having saved copies of any previous documentation was necessary to repeat
the same information.
Form E - work in progress. Might be less
daunting if it were clearer that not every section is applicable. As with
many things, preparation has been the key. Currently paused before I
return to establishing future income needs.
Hope this gives you
something to start on.
Forum 
England and Wales 
Scotland 
lead to any confusion 
