How to get a divorce in Ireland: conditions, steps and costs

At the date the proceedings are issued, the spouses must have lived apart for at least two years out of the previous three, and one spouse must be domiciled in Ireland or have been ordinarily resident here for the whole year before the proceedings began. After a divorce, a former spouse who wants provision from the other's estate must apply within six months of the grant of representation unless a section 18(10) order blocks this.

1. Check that you meet the conditions. Count the time living apart: two of the last three years when you issue proceedings, which can include periods under the same roof if you no longer lived as a couple. Check jurisdiction under section 39: one of you must be domiciled in Ireland on that date, or have been ordinarily resident here for the whole of the previous year. If you married abroad, you still divorce in Ireland if these conditions are met. If you do not yet meet the time requirement, a judicial separation under the 1989 Act needs only one year of living apart, and a separation agreement can be signed at any time.
2. Consider mediation and a separation agreement first. Under sections 6 and 7 of the 1996 Act, a solicitor acting for either spouse must discuss reconciliation, mediation and separation by agreement, and give the names of mediators, before the proceedings start. The Legal Aid Board's Family Mediation Service is free. The Family Courts Act 2024 adds a general duty on parties and lawyers to try to settle family disputes by agreement where that is safe. A negotiated agreement on the home, maintenance, pensions and the children is much cheaper and faster than a contested hearing, and the court can then grant the divorce on consent terms.
3. Gather financial information. Each spouse must swear an Affidavit of Means listing income, outgoings, assets, debts and pensions, with supporting documents such as payslips, bank statements, mortgage statements and pension benefit statements, typically for the last three years. If you have dependent children, an Affidavit of Welfare sets out the arrangements for them. Full and honest disclosure is essential: an order made on false or incomplete disclosure can later be set aside, and costs penalties are likely. Obtain an actuarial valuation of pensions if a pension adjustment order is likely.
4. Choose the court and issue the Family Law Civil Bill. Divorce cases are normally brought in the Circuit Court for the circuit where either spouse lives or carries on business. The Circuit Court handles cases involving land of a market value of up to €3 million; larger cases can go to the High Court. When the Family Courts Act 2024 is fully commenced, cases will be heard in the Family Circuit Court, and the Family District Court will gain divorce jurisdiction where the land involved is worth no more than €1 million, and without any monetary limit where both spouses agree all the terms (section 67). The civil bill, with the section 6 certificate of your solicitor (or a statutory declaration if you act in person), is issued in the Circuit Court office.
5. Serve the papers and wait for the other spouse's response. The civil bill, affidavit of means and other documents must be served on the other spouse, usually by personal service or registered post in accordance with the Circuit Court Rules. If there is a mortgage or a pension, the lender and the pension trustees must also be notified. The other spouse has a set time to enter an appearance and file a defence (and counterclaim) with their own affidavit of means and the section 7 certificate. If they do not respond, you can apply for judgment in default.
6. Deal with interim issues and discovery. While the case is pending, either spouse can ask for interim maintenance, orders on custody and access, or protective orders under the Domestic Violence Act 2018. If the other spouse is not disclosing assets, you can seek voluntary discovery and then a court order. Family law cases are heard in private, but judges may require exchange of documents, valuations and child welfare reports. Once commenced, section 98 of the Family Courts Act 2024 restricts a party from personally cross-examining a witness under 18.
7. Attend the hearing or settle on the day. Many cases settle at the door of the court. If you agree, the terms are read out and made a rule of court; check them carefully, because they become part of the order. The judge must still be satisfied that proper provision has been made under section 20, considering income, needs, contributions, age, the duration of the marriage and the interests of the children. If the case is contested, both sides give evidence and the judge decides the ancillary orders.
8. Implement and enforce the orders. After the decree, register property transfers, serve pension adjustment orders on the pension trustees, and update wills, nominations and insurance. If the other spouse does not comply, apply to the court that made the order for enforcement or for an order directing sale under section 19. In G v G [2025] IECA 259 and G v G (No. 2) [2026] IECA 79 the Court of Appeal enforced consent terms dividing the couple's assets, including an order for sale of properties when the agreed reconciliation process stalled.
9. Update your legal and tax position. A divorced person is no longer a spouse for succession, so the legal right share ends, but a will made during the marriage is not revoked automatically: make a new one. Ask the court to make section 18(10) orders blocking future claims against each other's estates if that is agreed. Tell Revenue about the change in civil status, because joint assessment ends. Maintenance paid to a former spouse under a court order is generally deductible for the payer and taxable for the recipient; child maintenance is not.

• Issuing too early. If the two-year period of living apart is not complete on the date the civil bill is issued, the divorce cannot be granted on that application.
• Incomplete affidavit of means. Non-disclosure of a pension, a business interest or an account undermines your credibility and can lead to costs orders or to the settlement being reopened.
• Agreeing terms without thinking about implementation. In G v G the parties' settlement required reconciliations and a shareholders' agreement within weeks; when that did not happen, years of further litigation followed.
• Forgetting the pension. Pensions are often the second-largest asset; without a pension adjustment order served on the trustees, the other spouse may get nothing from it.
• Assuming the family home goes to the parent with the children. The court has wide discretion and looks at the needs of everyone, including housing for both spouses.
• Not updating your will and nominations. A former spouse may still benefit from a will or a pension nomination made during the marriage.
• Treating divorce as the end of maintenance. Orders for maintenance and some property orders can be varied later on a change in circumstances, unless the court has made them final.

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Last updated: 03/11/2026 · Sources: Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996 (ss. 5, 6, 7, 13–20, 39), Family Law Act 2019, s. 3 – living apart for two of the previous three years, Family Courts Act 2024, Judicial Separation and Family Law Reform Act 1989, irishstatutebook.ie, EUR-Lex

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