Form D36 is the paper application that converts your conditional order into a final order, ending your marriage or civil partnership in England and Wales. Download the current version from GOV.UK, complete four pages, and post it to HMCTS. If you started your divorce online through the HMCTS portal, you do not use this form at all — you apply for the final order through the same online account. D36 is for paper-based cases and applications filed by post.
When You Can File
You must wait at least 43 days (six weeks and one day) after the date your conditional order was granted. The court will reject anything filed before that window opens. Count from the date printed on your conditional order certificate, not the day you received it in the post.
If you were the sole applicant and you do not apply, your spouse or civil partner can apply instead, but they must wait an extra three months on top of the standard 43 days. That puts a respondent’s earliest filing date at roughly four and a half months after the conditional order.
Apply within 12 months of the conditional order if you can. If more than 12 months have passed, question 2 on the form asks you to explain the delay in writing, and the court may refuse the application if it finds the explanation insufficient.
Sort Out Finances Before You Apply
GOV.UK is direct about this: if you want a legally binding arrangement for dividing money and property, apply to the court for a financial consent order before you apply for the final order. The D36 itself deals only with marital status, which is why the sequencing gets overlooked.
Without a consent order or clean break order, either spouse can bring financial claims against the other at any point in the future, even years after the divorce is finalised. A pension sharing order cannot take effect until the court has both the financial order and the final order. If you and your former spouse have already agreed how to split assets, get that agreement approved first.
What You Need Before You Start
Have these to hand:
- Your case number, the alphanumeric reference on all previous court correspondence.
- Your conditional order certificate, which shows the exact date the conditional order was made.
- The full legal names of the applicant (or both applicants) and the respondent, matching the original application exactly.
If a solicitor is filing for you, they will also need their firm’s details for the statement of truth.
Filling Out the Form
The form is short, but every field has to match your court records precisely.
Page One: Parties and Delay
Enter the names of the applicant(s) and respondent, plus your case number, at the top. Question 1 asks whether more than 12 months have passed since the conditional order was made. If no, skip to question 3. If yes, question 2 is where you explain the delay. Keep it factual — the court wants to know why you waited, not a recap of the marriage.
Page Two: Type of Application and Date
Question 3 is for sole applications. Tick it and enter the date the conditional order was made (day, month, year) exactly as it appears on the certificate. Question 4 is the joint equivalent, where both applicants confirm they want the conditional order made final and enter the date. Complete only the question that matches your case; leave the other blank.
Pages Three and Four: Statement of Truth
The sole applicant, or applicant 1 in a joint case, signs and dates page three. Applicant 2 in a joint application signs page four. A solicitor signing must identify their firm and their position. The statement of truth confirms that the information is accurate. Signing a false statement of truth can carry serious legal consequences, so check every date and name before you sign.
Where to Send It and What It Costs
Post the completed form to the address on the form:
HMCTS Divorce and Dissolution Service
PO Box 13226
Harlow
CM20 9UG
There is no court fee when the original applicant files. A respondent filing after the additional three-month wait pays a fee; the figure referenced is around £167, but confirm the current amount on GOV.UK before you send anything, since court fees are updated periodically. If you cannot afford it, apply for fee remission using Form EX160, available from GOV.UK or from the Court and Tribunal Service Centre.
What Happens After You Submit
Court staff check that the waiting period has been met, that the form is filled in correctly, and that nothing is outstanding on your case file. If everything is in order, a judge signs the final order. Processing times vary. Some applications are dealt with the same day; others take a few weeks depending on the court’s workload. The court sends the final order by post or email.
Once it is issued, you are legally single and free to remarry or enter a new civil partnership. Keep the final order certificate somewhere safe. You will need it to remarry, to apply for certain financial products, or to prove your marital status abroad.
Update Your Will and Your Life Insurance
A final order does not revoke your will, but it changes how provisions involving your former spouse are treated. Under the law in England and Wales, any gifts left to a former spouse are generally treated as if that person had died before you. The same applies to appointments of a former spouse as executor or trustee. The rest of the will remains valid, but if the failed gifts are not redirected by the will’s own terms, those portions of the estate can pass under the rules of intestacy. Update your will promptly after the final order is issued.
Life insurance works differently. Divorce does not automatically cancel a policy or remove a former spouse as a named beneficiary. If you do not update the beneficiary nomination, your former spouse can still legally receive the payout. The same is true of death-in-service benefits through an employer, which use separate nomination forms. Contact your insurer and your employer’s HR department once the final order arrives.
Using the Final Order Abroad
If you plan to remarry in another country, you may need to prove the UK divorce is recognised there. In the United States, recognition is governed by the law of the individual state where you live or plan to marry; there is no federal treaty. States typically look at whether both parties knew about the proceedings, whether both had a chance to participate, and whether either party lived in the UK at the time.
Many foreign authorities require your final order certificate to carry an apostille, an official stamp confirming the document is genuine. In the UK, the Legalisation Office handles apostilles. The document must bear a wet ink court seal to be eligible. You apply online at GOV.UK; the standard paper-based apostille costs £45 per document, with processing of up to 15 working days plus postage. If your final order was electronically signed, be aware that e-Apostilles cannot be used for certain civil certificates, so check the specific requirements with the authority requesting the document before you apply.