The decree absolute is a court document that officially ends a marriage in the UK. It is estimated that 42% of marriages now end in a divorce by the Office of National Statistics. If you need to provide this document to an overseas authority as evidence of a divorce you may be asked to get an Apostille.

This document is commonly legalised when an individual wishes to remarry or they would like to revert to the use of their maiden name. The Apostille is typically issued to this document to verify the authenticity of the court seal or stamp. It is also possible to process a solicitor certified copy of the document but we recommend processing the original wherever possible.

For further guidance on the legalisation of a decree absolute please contact us.

We have more information on the legalisation of a decree absolute on our blog.

Most decree absolute documents will contain the following wording.

The marriage between ...... be dissolved unless sufficient cause be shown to the court within six weeks from the making thereof why the said decree should not be made absolute, and no such cause having been shown, it is there by certified that the said decree was on the DATE, made final and absolute and that the said marriage was there by dissolved.