Form D36 UK: Apply to Make Your Conditional Order Final (2026)

At a glance

• Minimum wait to apply: 43 days (6 weeks and one day) from the date the Conditional Order was made — Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, s.1(4)(b) sets the 6-week statutory floor; Family Procedure Rules 2010, r.7.19 governs the notice.
• If your ex-spouse applies instead of you: an extra 3 months on top of the 43 days, and a formal application (not just a notice) under FPR 2010, r.7.20.
• The 12-month rule: apply more than 12 months after the Conditional Order and you must include a written explanation for the delay — FPR 2010, r.7.19(5).
• Financial protection: GOV.UK is explicit that a legally binding financial arrangement should be applied for before the Final Order; the court also has power under s.10 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 to protect a respondent's financial position first.
• Cost: no separate HMCTS fee for the Final Order in most cases — it is normally covered by the fee paid when the divorce application was first issued. Always check GOV.UK for the current amount.
• Who can apply: a sole applicant, joint applicants together, or — with extra conditions — the respondent.

What Form D36 is (and what it isn't)

Form D36 is the court form used by a sole applicant, or by joint applicants together, to ask the court to make the Final Order after a Conditional Order has already been granted. The Conditional Order is the court confirming you are entitled to a divorce. The Final Order is the court confirming the divorce has actually happened.

Until the Final Order is made, you are still legally married — the Conditional Order alone does not end a marriage. The form itself is short: it asks for the case number, the names of the parties, the date the Conditional Order was made, and confirmation that you are eligible to apply. Most people now complete this step online through the same account used for the rest of the divorce; Form D36 is the paper alternative, available from GOV.UK's Form D36 publication page.

Note that this current version of D36 is only for applications issued on or after 6 April 2022. If your divorce application was issued before that date, a different, older version of D36 applies and the "decree nisi"/"decree absolute" terminology is still used on your paperwork.

From Conditional Order to Final Order: the legal framework

The two-stage structure — first a Conditional Order, then a Final Order — comes directly from statute, not just court practice. Section 1(4) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 (as substituted by the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020) provides that a divorce order is, in the first instance, a conditional order, and "may not be made final before the end of the period of 6 weeks from the making of the conditional order."

The mechanics of actually asking the court to convert the Conditional Order into a Final Order are set out in the Family Procedure Rules 2010. Rule 7.19 allows a party (or both parties jointly) in whose favour the Conditional Order was made to give the court notice that they want it made final. Before doing so, the court checks a list of conditions — for example, that no application to rescind the Conditional Order is pending, no appeal is pending, and any relevant financial or gender-recognition provisions have been complied with.

The 43-day wait — and why it's 43, not 42

GOV.UK states plainly: "You need to wait at least 43 days (6 weeks and 1 day) after the date of the conditional order or decree nisi before you can apply to end your marriage." The extra day beyond the 6-week statutory minimum reflects how the court calculates the period — the notice cannot be given on the exact day the 6-week statutory bar expires, so in practice the earliest safe date to apply is the day after.

Applying before the 43 days have passed will result in the application being rejected, so it is worth diarising the date carefully rather than guessing from memory.

If you were a joint applicant, or your ex-spouse hasn't applied

If you and your ex-spouse made a joint application for divorce, either of you can generally apply for the Final Order once the 43 days have passed, in the same way as a sole applicant. If you applied alone and choose not to apply for the Final Order once you are eligible, your ex-spouse can apply instead — but under rule 7.20 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010, this is treated as a formal court application rather than a simple notice, and GOV.UK confirms they must wait an extra 3 months on top of the standard 43 days before doing so.

| Who is applying | Minimum wait from Conditional Order | Route | |---|---|---| | Sole applicant (who started the divorce) | 43 days (6 weeks + 1 day) | Notice under FPR 2010, r.7.19 | | Joint applicants, either party | 43 days (6 weeks + 1 day) | Notice under FPR 2010, r.7.19 | | Respondent, where the applicant hasn't applied | 43 days + a further 3 months | Formal application under FPR 2010, r.7.20 |

The 12-month rule: explaining a delay

There is no hard deadline that forces you to apply for the Final Order the moment you become eligible. But rule 7.19(5) of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 provides that where the notice is received more than 12 months after the Conditional Order was made, it "must include or be accompanied by an explanation in writing stating why the application has not been made earlier."

Under rule 7.19(6), the court can require that explanation to be verified with a statement of truth, and can make whatever order it thinks fit on the application — including, in principle, questioning or refusing it if the explanation is unsatisfactory. In practice, courts are generally reasonable about ordinary delays (for example, waiting for a financial settlement, or simply not getting round to it), but the explanation still needs to be filed and needs to be honest. If the delay was because you and your ex-spouse were attempting a reconciliation that has since broken down, say so.

Should you wait until finances are sorted before applying?

This is the single most consequential timing decision in the whole process, and it is worth treating separately from the mechanical eligibility date.

GOV.UK's own guidance is direct: "If you want a legally binding arrangement for dividing money and property you must apply to the court for this before you apply for a final order or decree absolute." Once the Final Order is made and the marriage ends, some of the legal protections that exist while you are still married — for example, certain pension and inheritance claims, and the ability to bring some types of financial claim without needing the court's permission — can be lost or become harder to pursue.

A common real-world scenario: one spouse applies for the Final Order as soon as they are eligible, wanting to feel "properly divorced," without realising that no financial consent order is yet in place. If their ex-spouse dies unexpectedly before a financial settlement is reached, the survivor may find they have lost claims they would otherwise have had as a still-married (or recently divorced, but protected) spouse. This is a recurring source of regret that family lawyers see, and it is precisely why many advisers recommend resolving — or at least formally applying for — a financial consent order first, even though nothing in the process forces you to wait.

The court's power to protect a respondent's finances

Section 10 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973 gives a respondent a specific mechanism to ask the court to consider their financial position before the Final Order is made, in cases where the Conditional Order was made in favour of only one party (or where a joint applicant has since withdrawn). Where that application is made, the court must not make the Final Order unless it is satisfied either that no financial provision is needed for the respondent, or that the provision made (or proposed) is reasonable, fair, or the best available in the circumstances — taking into account both parties' age, health, conduct, earning capacity, financial resources and obligations, and what the respondent's financial position is likely to be if the applicant were to die first. The court can still make the order final without delay if it obtains a satisfactory undertaking from the applicant about future financial provision.

This protection exists for a reason: converting the Conditional Order into a Final Order too quickly can close off financial options that are much harder, or impossible, to reopen afterwards.

How to complete and submit Form D36

1. Confirm your eligibility date. Work out the 43rd day after the Conditional Order was made (or the later date that applies if you are the respondent applying under rule 7.20). Applying early will be rejected outright.
2. Think through your financial position first. If a financial consent order isn't yet in place, weigh up whether you should apply for that first, or at least understand what you might be giving up by finalising the divorce now. Take advice if you are unsure — this decision is much harder to undo than the delay of getting advice.
3. Complete Form D36 accurately. Enter the case number and the full names of both parties exactly as they appear on the original divorce application, plus the date the Conditional Order was made. Any mismatch with the court's own records can cause the application to be queried or delayed.
4. Submit to the court. If your divorce was started online, you'll usually be able to apply for the Final Order through the same account. Paper applications go to the relevant divorce centre. Check GOV.UK for the current position on any fee that may apply — in most cases the original divorce application fee already covers this step.
5. If more than 12 months have passed, attach your written explanation for the delay, as required by rule 7.19(5).
6. Wait for the court to process the application and issue the Final Order once it is satisfied the conditions in rule 7.19(4) are met.

What happens after you apply

The court checks that the timing conditions have been met and that nothing else stands in the way — for example, no pending appeal against the Conditional Order, and no outstanding intervention from the King's Proctor. If everything is in order, it issues the Final Order and sends a copy to both parties (or to a solicitor acting for either party, who will then need to pass it on).

Once you have the Final Order, you are divorced, no longer married, and free to remarry if you wish. Keep the document safe — you will need it as proof of divorce for remarriage, pension claims, name changes, and various other formalities. If you lose it, GOV.UK explains how to apply to the court for a replacement copy.

Common mistakes that delay a Final Order

• Applying before the 43 days are up. The most frequent reason an application is rejected outright.
• Getting the case number or names wrong. Even small mismatches with the original application can cause the court to query the application.
• Applying more than 12 months after the Conditional Order without an explanation. The written explanation required by rule 7.19(5) is easy to forget if you weren't tracking the date.
• Not thinking about finances first. Rushing to finalise the divorce before a financial consent order is agreed can close off protections that are far harder to recover once the Final Order has been made.
• Assuming the respondent has the same timeline as the applicant. If you're applying because your ex-spouse hasn't, remember the extra 3-month wait and the different (formal application) route under rule 7.20.

This guide provides general information about applying to make a Conditional Order final in England and Wales. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice tailored to your specific circumstances — particularly around financial timing, where the right answer depends heavily on your own facts. The law described was accurate as at July 2026 and is subject to change; always check GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk for the current position, including current court fees.

Last reviewed: July 2026 by a non-practising solicitor · Next review due: July 2027 or on legislative change.