Step 3: Service of the Petition
Once the petition has been left with the Court, the Court will briefly check over the petition to ensure that all the form has been completed correctly and that the correct fee has been sent. The court will only be checking for administrative errors, they will not be raising any questions with regard to the facts of the petition, that comes later.
If the court finds any problems they will return the petition to the petitioner asking that the relevant steps be taken to correct it. If there are no problems then the Court will do the following:
- Send the Petitioner a form D9H (notice of issue of petition). This is the petitioner’s receipt for the Court fee but also tells the petitioner:
- When the petition was sent to the respondent; and
- the divorce case number; and
- what to do if the respondent (or any co-respondent) does not reply to the petition.
- Send a copy of the petition along with a form D10 (acknowledgement of service) to:
- the respondent (with a copy of the proposed arrangements for any children) and
- any named co-respondent
The respondent (and any co-respondent) have seven working days to return the acknowledgement of service. The seven days start on the day after they receive the petition. The respondent (and co-respondent) should diarise this date immediately after they receive the documents as it is very important that they return them by this date. The Petitioner should also diarise the date the acknowledgement is due.
The time for returning the acknowledgement of service will be longer if the respondent (or any co-respondent) lives outside England and Wales.
Once the acknowledgement of service is returned to the Court copies of the respondent’s (and any co-respondent’s) form will be sent to the Petitioner.
Failure of service or lack of response:
If the address given by the petitioner for the respondent (or co-respondent) is wrong, or they have moved, the relevant forms will of course be returned to the Court undelivered. The Court will let the petitioner know this has happened by sending a form D9A (notice of non-service of petition).The petitioner must then find the correct address (or addresses) and write and let the court know. The court will post the petition and other forms to the new address.
If fourteen days have passed since the petition was sent and no Acknowledgement has been received then the Petitioner can apply for the Petition to be served on the Respondent by the Court bailiff.
The petitioner should complete forms D89 (request for bailiff service).
and return them to the court along with:
- A photograph of the respondent (and any co-respondent)
- A written description of the respondent (and any co-respondent)
- The relevant fee for each person being served. This is a minimal amount, usually £30.
The County court bailiff will then be asked to deliver the petition and other documents to the respondent (and any co-respondent) personally.
If the petitioner still doesn’t receive a response from the respondent (or any co-respondent) they should seek legal advice.
Next Step - Step 4: Acknowledgement of Service
38%
