Decree Nisi and Decree Absolute: What They Mean Now

Lauren Gaines

If you were divorced in England or Wales before April 2022, you will have been sent two documents. One was called a decree nisi. The other was called a decree absolute, and it is the one that actually ended your marriage.

Those names no longer exist for new divorces. They were replaced on 6 April 2022. The documents themselves did not change, and neither did the certificate sitting in your paperwork, which is why so many people are still looking these terms up.

This guide explains what each document was, what the equivalents are called today, how to get a replacement copy if yours has been lost, and the point that catches people out most often. Your decree absolute ended your marriage. It almost certainly did not end your ex-partner’s ability to make a financial claim against you.

What is a decree nisi?

A decree nisi was the middle stage of a divorce. It was the court’s confirmation that it could see no reason why you should not be divorced.

It did not end the marriage. “Nisi” is Latin for “unless”, and the sense was that the divorce would go ahead unless something was raised to stop it.

You could not remarry on a decree nisi, and you were still legally married to your spouse. Its practical importance was that it opened the door to the next stage, and it was the point from which the court could approve a financial order.

The equivalent today is called a conditional order.

What is a decree absolute?

A decree absolute was the final order of the court in a divorce. It ended the marriage.

Once it was granted you were legally divorced, free to remarry, and your marital status had changed for every other purpose: mortgages, pensions, wills, name changes and visa applications among them.

This is the document people need years later. It is the proof that your marriage ended, and it is the one HM Passport Office, a lender or a registrar will ask to see.

The equivalent today is called a final order.

What is the difference between decree nisi and decree absolute?

The short version: a decree nisi said you could get divorced. A decree absolute meant you were divorced.

	Decree nisi	Decree absolute
What it did	Confirmed the court saw no reason to refuse	Ended the marriage
Were you divorced?	No	Yes
Could you remarry?	No	Yes
Called what now?	Conditional order	Final order

You had to wait at least 43 days, six weeks and one day, after the decree nisi before you could apply for the decree absolute. That gap still exists in the modern process between the conditional order and the final order.

What are decree nisi and decree absolute called now?

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 introduced no-fault divorce and came into force on 6 April 2022.

Alongside removing the need to blame anyone for the breakdown of a marriage, it replaced the Latin terminology:

• Decree nisi became conditional order
• Decree absolute became final order
• Divorce petition became divorce application
• Petitioner became applicant

Nothing about the documents themselves changed. The renaming was done because the old language confused people at an already difficult moment.

The modern process runs to a fixed minimum timetable. You wait 20 weeks from the issue of your application before applying for the conditional order, then a further six weeks and one day before the final order. Our guide to how long a divorce takes sets out the full sequence.

Do the old terms still apply to anyone?

Yes, in a small number of cases.

Which set of terms applies depends on when the court issued your divorce application, not on today’s date:

• Issued on or after 6 April 2022: conditional order and final order.
• Issued before 6 April 2022: decree nisi and decree absolute, under the old law.

A divorce started before April 2022 that has never been finalised is still a decree nisi and decree absolute case. That is unusual after this long, but it happens, most often where the finances were never resolved and the divorce was deliberately left unfinished.

If that describes your situation, take advice before applying to finalise. Ending the marriage at the wrong moment can cost you.

Civil partnerships are a separate case. They were always dissolved rather than divorced, and the orders were always called conditional orders and final orders, so the decree language never applied to them. Our guide to same-sex divorce and dissolution sets out how that process works.

What does a decree absolute look like?

It is a court order, issued and sealed by the court or divorce centre that dealt with your divorce, rather than anything you fill in yourself.

To do its job it has to identify the divorce, so it will show:

• The case number.
• The full names of both parties.
• The date the marriage was dissolved.
• Wording confirming that the marriage is dissolved and the parties are divorced.

Those are the same details the court asks for when you apply for a replacement copy, which is a useful cross-check if you are trying to work out whether the document in front of you is the right one.

A decree nisi looks similar but says something quite different. It records that the court is satisfied you are entitled to a divorce, not that you have been granted one. If your document says “nisi”, it is not proof that you are divorced.

People sometimes confuse a decree absolute with their marriage certificate or with a court order dealing with money. It is neither. It is a short document that does one thing: it confirms the marriage has ended.

How do I get a copy of my decree absolute?

You can apply for a replacement. What it costs and how long it takes depends on how much you know about the original case. The official route is set out in the gov.uk guidance on getting a copy of a decree absolute or final order.

If you know the case number

This is the cheapest and quickest route. It costs £14.

• If your case number has 16 digits, apply to the Divorce Service Centre.
• If it does not, apply to the court that dealt with your divorce.

Give your name and address, the case number, and how you want to pay. You should receive the copy within about a week of your payment reaching the court.

If you do not know the case number

Where to apply depends on when and how the original application was made:

• Applied online after January 2019: the Divorce Service Centre.
• Applied by post after April 2022: the Divorce Service Centre.
• Any other time: the court that dealt with the divorce.

You will need to give a date you think the divorce happened. The court searches five years either side of it. If you cannot give a date at all, they search the last ten years. Each ten-year search period costs £89.

If you do not know which court dealt with it

Apply to the Bury St Edmunds Divorce Unit, which can search the records for you, using Form D440. This also costs £89 for each ten-year period.

You will get a certificate of the search together with a copy of the decree absolute, usually within about 45 days of your payment reaching the court. If nothing is found, you receive a “no trace” certificate instead.

If your divorce was in Scotland or Northern Ireland

Different systems apply. Scotland issues an extract of the decree of divorce, and Northern Ireland has its own process. The gov.uk guidance above links to both.

Does a decree absolute end financial claims?

No, and this is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this area.

A decree absolute ended your marriage. It did not end your financial relationship with your former spouse. Claims for maintenance, a share of property, a lump sum or a share of a pension survive the divorce itself.

The only thing that ends them is a court order dismissing them. That is usually a consent order recording an agreement you have both reached, or a financial remedy order made by a judge if you could not agree. An order that dismisses all claims on both sides is called a clean break order.

Without one, a claim can be made years later. People have been pursued long after they assumed the matter was closed, sometimes over assets built up entirely after the marriage ended.

The remarriage trap

There is a further catch, and it lands on exactly the people who need a copy of their decree absolute in order to remarry.

Under section 28(3) of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, if you remarry or form a civil partnership before you have applied to the court, you lose the right to apply for a financial provision order or a property adjustment order in your favour.

You can lose the claim without ever knowing you had one. If your finances were never sorted out, get advice before the wedding, not after it.

What to do if your finances were never resolved

It is not too late, but it is worth acting rather than hoping.

The starting point is full financial disclosure from both sides, usually on Form E. From there the options are negotiation, mediation, or an application to the court. The outcome will turn on what there is, what each of you needs, and how long ago the marriage ended.

Our guides on how a pension is split in a divorce, who gets the house and property adjustment orders cover the assets that come up most often.

How we can help

Our family law team advises on every stage of a separation, from the divorce itself through to the financial settlement that goes with it.

If you are holding an old decree absolute and are not sure whether your finances were ever properly concluded, that is a short conversation and a useful one. We can check whether a binding order was made, and tell you where you stand if it was not.

Call us on 020 7485 8811 or fill in the contact form below.