Divorce Timetable / What goes on the official documents

Hi all,
I wanted to ask a couple questions as I prepare for my upcoming divorce...
my [soon to be ex] wife is going to be filing against me in the UK (quickest way to get the ball rolling) as I am american and havent been resident long enough since returning from the UK to file until 2012... since we have only been separated since february and got married last september 2010, she is going to cite adultery as the reason.

Does anyone happen to know if it will be mentioned I am an adulterer [we were completely split up, and all is amicable] on the decree nisi or decree absolute, or both?

Also, how long should it take assuming the entire process is uncontested and painless? I don't anticipate any holdup from myself or my ex.  I have heard different values, and this will be handled in hampshire county, not London so the court probably won't be nearly as busy...

Thank you in advance for all your help.

It will be mentioned on the nisi but not I think on the absolute.

If all goes smoothly, the divorce could be over within 4-5 months - beware though that her Solicitors may advise her to delay applying for the decree absoute until a financial settlement has been reached

Yeah... we aren't going to have any financial woes... we've agreed that no money will change hands up front.  So 4-5 months then?

Can anyone explain the official process? The way I understand it:
-She petitions and then I am served with the petition; I sign it and i send it back
-The court grants a decree nisi
43 days later decree absolute is applied for
Both decrees take 7-10 working days as I understand it?

Essentially that's correct.  Some of the details are wrong - you don't sign the petition.  Instead you sign an 'acknowledgement of service'.   This is sent back to the Court.  They send it to her.  She then swears an affidavit confirming your signature on it.  She then sents this back to the Court and applies for Decree Nisi.  If the Court agrees, this is granted.  6 weeks and a day after - she can apply for the absolute.

BTE

They can send these forms internationally right? like if i give my ex the address where I am mailable in the states, the court will mail internationally?

Thanks

Also, hypothetically speaking, am I able to file against a brit in the UK if I am currently residing in the USA?

Where did you get the information that you need to be a US resident for a certain amount of time before filing for divorce?  I'm currently going through the divorce process (from my UKC husband, who lives in the UK) from the US and no resident time period was ever a concern.  Ever state has different laws but that just seems like a strange requirement to have since you are a USC.

My understanding is that the divorce procedures are much quicker and easier from the US since there is an 'irreconsible differences' divorce that is pretty much instantaneous when both parties agree (obviously, this all depends on many circumstances and the laws of the state you'll be in).  You might want to research that option a little more.  Generally speaking, the US courts don't care that your wife is a UKC and things would be processed the same as if she was a USC (again though, check the laws of your state).

Also, without trying to sound too cynical, keep in mind that the "agreement" you have (about money or whatever else you have talked about) could easily go right out the window.  Your wife may talk to a lawyer who can convince her how great it would be to take you to the cleaners for committing adultery, and suddenly she's not so nice and agreeable anymore.  Or she could just decide she wants to make you miserable.  Things are very unpredictable when it comes to stuff like this, even if you just "know" that would never happen to you.

I think it all depends on your state and on whether there is money/children involved.

Massachusetts requires you to have been a resident for a year.

A little background on the marriage:
-January 2009 we started dating
-February 2010 we got engaged
-September 4 2010 we got married
-September 23 i went back to the states to apply for my spouse visa
-October 29 i arrived in the Uk with my spouse visa in hand
-January 5 she told me she was leaving
-By end of jan she was moved out
-February 23 I left the UK and the marriage was over but we could not get divorced.

So all in all the marriage was 4 months long.  IF she lawyers up I will do the same and we will draw out the legal process, and I highly doubt she wants that. 

The way i understand it, I can have a financial order of consent that is signed by her that essentially says "we are officially cutting ties financially".  The fact is that I have, (and had throughout our entire relationship) money in a long term CD account that amounted to over $75k (USD) but this money never entered into our relationship.  We lived very modestly (£625pcm flat, around £1200 month in monthly expenses including rent for BOTH of us) and the only money that I touched was in my checking account which had less than $10,000USD in it. 

There are no children, there is no property, and she got most of the stuff we had together when I left the UK since I didn't want to take it back to the states, including all furniture we bought. 

I have emails from her and what not saying she was happy for me that I have started seeing someone... hopefully she just leaves me alone.  We parted close friends but it's amazing, the impact money will have on someone

Your wife may talk to a lawyer who can convince her how great it would be to take you to the cleaners for committing adultery, and suddenly she's not so nice and agreeable anymore. 

That won't work.  She'd be laughed out of Court for even suggesting it.

I like the sound of that.

That won't work.  She'd be laughed out of Court for even suggesting it.

I'm not saying the wife would go to court and say "He committed adultery...give me lots of money".  I'm saying, that lawyers are very persuasive (that is the nature of their careers) and could convince her (the wife, not the courts) to try for everything she's legally entitled to in a divorce (regardless of the reason).  I don't know what she would be entitled to but I would guess it's more than 'nothing'. 

That's all irrelevant anyway.  The point was, you need to cover yourself because she can agree to whatever she wants to today and then change her mind tomorrow.  Like I said, I'm super cynical about that type of stuff (based on personal experiences) but it is SOOOO easy for someone to say one thing and do another...especially if they have something to gain.

If it will take 4-5 months for the divorce to be final if she files in the UK, assuming she files today, that puts your divorce being final around Dec-Jan.  If you arrived in the US at the end of February, waiting only 2-3 extra months and you could file it yourself from the US.  I guess that all just depends on if you want the adultery on your "record" and how accessible that is. 

As long as my decree absolute doesn't say adultery (It seems that the nisi doesn't say it either), i am fine. I am as sung that in the petition, you can list that the marriage broke down for such and such reasons before e adultery was committed right?