Author: A. Collopy
Company: County Dublin VEC

Form: 2N Family Law Civil Bill 

S.I. No. 427 of 2018
FORM 2N
AN CHÚIRT TEAGHLAIGH CHUARDA
THE CIRCUIT FAMILY COURT
CIRCUIT COUNTY OF DUBLIN
PHOENIX HOUSE, SMITHFIELD, DUBLIN 7, COUNTY DUBLIN
IN THE MATTER OF THE FAMILY LAW (DIVORCE) ACT 1996 BETWEEN

........................................................................  Applicant
AND
........................................................................  Respondent

You are hereby required within ten days after the service of this Civil Bill upon you to enter or cause to be entered with the County Registrar, at his/her Office at ........................................................................  (location), an Appearance (Form 5, Circuit Court Rules) to answer the claim of  ........................................................................  (legal spouse) of  ........................................................................  (address) , the Applicant herein. 
And take notice that unless you enter an Appearance, you will be held to have admitted the said claim, and the Applicant may apply for judgment against you. 
And further take notice that you must not only enter an Appearance, but also, within ten days after entering your Appearance:
(i) if you intend to defend the claim on any grounds, you must deliver a statement in writing showing the nature and grounds of your Defence (Form 6A, Circuit Court Rules);
(ii) where financial relief is sought, file and deliver to the Applicant or his Solicitor a copy of an Affidavit of Means (Form 37A, Circuit Court Rules); 
(iii) where the welfare of a dependent child may be at issue, file and deliver to the Applicant or his Solicitor a copy of an Affidavit of Welfare (Form 37B, Circuit Court Rules). 
Your Appearance may be entered and any original Affidavit of Means and Affidavit of Welfare filed by posting same to the said Office and by giving copies thereof to the Applicant or his Solicitor by post. Your Defence and copies of any Affidavit of Means may be delivered by posting same to the Applicant or his Solicitor.
The Applicant’s Affidavit of Means, is filed and served with this Civil Bill.
Where a Defence and/or Counterclaim is filed, the Applicant is required, unless you dispense in writing with the requirement of vouching, to vouch his Affidavit of Means, within 28 days of the date of filing of your Affidavit of Means. 
You, the spouse of the applicant, are required, unless the Applicant dispenses in writing with the requirement of vouching, to vouch your Affidavit of Means, within 28 days of the date of filing of same. 

INDORSEMENT OF CLAIM 

The Applicant makes a Claim for the following: 

1.	Order Section 5 (1), the granting of a Decree of Divorce in respect of the marriage which began dated _______________________  between __________________________and _____________________________;  
2.	Order Section 18 (10), the parties make No Claim on Estate; 
3.	Such other orders as the court deems fit. 

The Grounds are as follows: 

I.	The parties have lived apart continuously for four years and both parties agree to the divorce. 

II.	A normal marital relationship has not existed for four years continuously. 

III.	The parties have lived separately for four years. [List the full circumstances of this arrangement here, in addition to in the sections below] (further details are provided in the succeeding section). 

IV.	The parties do not have children or other dependents, homes, land or other property, debts, or pensions, jointly or otherwise, and neither party is seeking financial compensation from the other party. Thus it should be stated that: 
In the matter of the Family Home Protection Act, 1976, this act is not applicable in this circumstance. 
In the matter of the Family Law (Divorce) Act, 1996, Provision 18 (10), the parties petition the court to waive this provision, preventing either party from receiving any portion of the other’s estate if one of the parties becomes deceased during or after the divorce proceedings. 

V.	Neither party is seeking fault, blame, or compensation. The parties are in full agreement on all terms of the divorce, especially to avoid further emotional turmoil between the parties, and their extended family, mainly that argument within the family or a prolonged divorce could be personally upsetting to [the husband’s] elderly parents. 

VI.	Both parties consent to the making of an Order for a Decree of Divorce. 

DETAILS OF MARRIAGE: 

Applicant

Name: ……………………………………… 
Employed as: ………………………………………
Resident at (current address): ……………………………………….
                              ……………………………………….

Respondent

Name: ……………………………………… 
Employed as: ………………………………………
Resident at (current address): ……………………………………….
                              ……………………………………….

Date of marriage: | ………………………………………

Place of marriage:

……………………………………… 
………………………………………
………………………………………

Residence of marriage [list residence and type, such as mortgage or rental]:

……………………………………… 
……………………………………… 
……………………………………… 
……………………………………… 
……………………………………… 
………………………………………

Date of separation [the solicitor told me you don’t require proof of this, or the other details, you simply state and swear it and your (ex) spouse agrees.] :

……………………………………… ………………………………………
………………………………………

Circumstances of separation [such as who moved out and to where, was it a rental, etc.]:

……………………………………… 
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………

Date ____________________   
moved out of the family house:

………………………………………

Address where __________________ 
lived after she moved out [explain details as needed, such as if this was a rental situation]:

………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………

Address where [the other party/spouse] lived after __________________ moved out:

………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………

Subsequent moves by __________________ [list all addresses, dates of moves, and circumstances for each party]:

………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………

Further to note that the parties concerned do not have any debts, pensions, children, pets, dependent family members, land or housing or other property, or large assets and are in full agreement on all the terms of their initial separation and now subsequent petition to the court for a Decree of Divorce. 

Signature ...................................................................................... Date: ……………………………… 
Applicant (claimant)/Solicitors for the Applicant

Of ………………………………………………… [address] 

[You should TYPE all the blank sections in, not handwrite them except for your signature and the date. This is to be signed by a Commissioner for Oaths or a Solicitor (especially of family law); they see your passport and witness you signing your documents and they stamp your signed documents, and a copy of your marriage certificate. The court says it will or may return your marriage certificate but it’s likely that you won’t get it back. You can always get another copy from the Registrars in Joyce House where Irish vital records are housed. The cost at time of writing is €20 for marriage, birth, and death records and the waiting period is only a few minutes. And the staff there tend to be friendly.]