Divorce hearing: What happens

If its all agreed in advance by both sides and all the documentation is in order. The judge will walk you through it and basically confirm you are both in agreement etc.

Doesn't take long.

Dubal

Depends where it is. Mine was in family court in Smithfield and you're not allowed to bring anybody in. Another friend had a divorce in Mullingar and nobody is allowed in to the familiy courtroom either, which makes complete sense.

As for the day, it should be straightforward enough but it depends on the judge and if you have legal representation or not.

I did a DIY divorce as my ex agreed to everything and there were no legal disputes.

My judge was awful, quite hostile and kept saying that I had no legal representation which made me think that she didn't like that the legal side was not making money out of it.

She made a massive issue about pensions and pension adjustment orders and tried to make things out like "Irish Life Retirement Bond" is not a pension but a bond.

I explained they were all pensions but just had different titles which I had no control over and also why would they respond with acknowledgements of pension adjustment orders if they were not pensions.

She wanted to adjourn the case so I could obtain more information. I challenged this and asked respectfully what information am I supposed to get? She was surprised and with that the clerk stood up and spoke to her and told her he'd seen this in other cases and other judges accepted them as pensions.

She relented and then granted my divorce, much to my relief as I just wanted it over and also had a night out with mates arranged.😀

When over she just walked out very unfriendly and I walked as close as i could to the clerk and thank him and he just smiled at me and said I was welcome and I walked out as proud as punch.

I have a 100% record now as an undefeated court representative.😁

When I rang DIY service I was dealing with , they said that the judge was always difficult and had a poor reputation with them compared to other judges. She behaved as if it was the first time she had ever seen pensions like mine.

My cousin co-incidentally had her as well for her case and she made things very difficult for them too and made them feel like criminals. I just don't think she likes people who do not use legal representation.

So it depends who you get, and if you have representation or not but if all going well can be done and dusted in 10-15 minutes.

Best of luck,

did you or your OH ask for a pensions order?
I'm doing a DIY divorce also and we've agreed to ignore pensions as she has her own and mine is not worth much so there's no advantage for either side. Our deed of separation has stipulated that we will not have any rights to each others pensions.

In Dublin family court in Smithfield you're not allowed to bring anyone into the waiting area and you go through an airport type scanner to get in.

I think the reason is that the area is quite small so all parties are bound to meet so it's best to avoid any confrontation and/or intimidation of witnesses.

Sounds like we may have had the same judge.

Mine took 15 minutes, it was a DIY Divorce with an online company, since my ex had left the country several years earlier and was not going to return for any reason I was there alone. The judge walked through the documents, asked about the other party, I added details… AND WE WERE DONE!

Went and had a few drinks and moved on with life.

More recent than mine.