It is up to the respondent to file a defence if he/she denies the allegation in a petition for adultery, unreasonable behaviour, desertion or that you have been separated for at least five years.

But it is essential that the petitioner proves first that the respondent has received the petition and this is most easily done if the respondent has filed a form known as an acknowledgement of service.

In a divorce based on separation for at least two years with consent, evidence of the respondent's consent to the divorce will also be required.

There can be many reasons why a respondent ignores a divorce petition and fails to file an acknowledgement of service.

Some people don't want to be divorced and hope that if they ignore it, it will go away. Others are worried about the cost of seeking legal advice and so do not fill in the acknowledgement of service because they don't know how to.

The first step we take when no acknowledgement is received is to contact the respondent (your husband/wife) and encourage him/her to file the acknowledgement or seek legal advice.

In most cases we achieve our objective. However, sometimes a letter is not enough. How we deal with this situation depends partly on which reason for the divorce has been given.

As you will still need the consent of your husband/wife to obtain a divorce after having been separated for at least two years, simply sending a bailiff round to serve the respondent personally will achieve little if the respondent is refusing to publicy state his/her consent to the divorce. So it is important to firstly discover the reason why that consent is being witheld. Is it an issue over paying towards the cost of the divorce perhaps?

If the consent is still not forthcoming for any reason, there is no solution other than to apply to dismiss the existing petition and start again. If there is some other reason for divorce such as unreasonable behaviour this may be immediate. Otherwise you may have to wait until you have been separated for five years.

In all other proceedings the respondent has 28 days from the date service can be proved in which to file a defence.

If the respondent has not filed an acknowledgement of service it is common to prove service by instructing a bailiff to serve the petition personally and file the bailiff's certificate of service with the court.

Once the time for the respondent to file a defence has then passed, you may apply for the decree nisi. The court will consider your reasons for the divorce in your statement of case and if the particulars have been sufficiently proved the court will send you a certificate and a date when your decree will be pronounced.