D13B form: ask the court to dispense with service
Form D13B is a statement of every enquiry you have made to find your husband, wife or civil partner. You send it when you cannot find them to serve the divorce, dissolution, nullity or separation papers, and ask the court to let the case go ahead without service.
Fill in the D13B form with Wren
How Wren helps with the D13B
Official forms are written for lawyers. With Wren you do not have to decode this one on your own, and you still follow the court’s procedure.
- Plain questions, one at a timeEach part of the D13B becomes short questions in everyday words. Answer at your own pace and come back to it.
- Help beside each questionWhat the question is asking and what the official guidance says about it, in plain English.
- The official form, filled inYour answers go into the official D13B. You check it, sign it and send it yourself. Nothing goes to the court for you.
- What comes next, kept with your caseWhat usually happens after you send it, with the dates worked out from the published rules.
Time and money
- On your own
- A day or more
- With Wren
- About an hour for most forms
- Solicitor for this form
- £740 to £1,2403 to 5 hours
A solicitor’s time for the D13B can run to £1,240. With Wren it is part of £19.99 a month, and it takes about an hour for most forms rather than a day or more.
Times and hours are Wren’s estimates for a typical case, not quotes. Solicitor costs are those hours at £247 an hour, the courts’ guideline rate for a solicitor with over four years’ experience, outside London (GOV.UK, Solicitors' guideline hourly rates (in effect from 1 January 2026)). The guideline runs from £200 to £295 an hour outside London depending on experience, firms set their own rates, and VAT is added on top.
Key facts
- Official title
- Ask the court to dispense with service in divorce or legal separation proceedings: Form D13B
- Edition
- 03.24 (8 pages). GOV.UK updated the page on 21 March 2024.Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- The rule
- The court may dispense with service of the application where it is impracticable to serve it. The request must be supported by evidence, and the court may ask you to attend.Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Fee
- The form does not print a fee. EX50 lists £62 for an application made without notice where no other fee applies; check with the court. Help with fees may be available.Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
- Exhibits
- The form asks you to exhibit all correspondence about the respondent's whereabouts, such as returned letters and replies to your enquiries.Source: official page (external source, opens in a new tab)
Who uses the D13B
The applicant in a divorce, dissolution, nullity or (judicial) separation who cannot find the respondent. Most people apply online; if the respondent does not respond, the court contacts you and tells you what you can do, and online applicants follow what the court says in their account.
When it is used
When it is impracticable to serve the application by any method the rules allow, because you do not know where the respondent is. If you know where they are but they will not respond, other routes apply instead, such as bailiff service on form D89.
Before you start
- The last address where you lived together, and when you parted.
- Every address the respondent has had since, and when you last saw or heard from them.
- Replies from relatives, friends, an employer, a bank, a trade union or the Child Support Agency.
- Any letters returned marked 'not known at this address' or 'gone away'.
- The result of a search for a decree absolute or final order, if you asked for one on form D440.
How to fill in the D13B
Open each part for what it asks and how to answer it. In Wren, each part is a few plain questions, and your answers fill in the form.
Questions 1 to 4: where and when
Where you last lived together, where the respondent went, and when and where they were last seen or heard of.
Questions 5 to 9: the enquiries you made
Contact with any children, the respondent's employer, banks, unions, maintenance orders and the Child Support Agency, and what each enquiry found.
Statement of truth and your address
You sign a statement of truth and give an address for documents, unless you are keeping it confidential using form C8.
Prepare your D13B with Wren Family
Wren Family turns official forms into short, plain-English questions you can answer at your own pace. You check everything before you send it: nothing goes to the court for you.
Get startedFree for 14 days, no card. Then £19.99 a month, with your money back within 14 days if it’s not right.
What happens after you send it
A judge decides whether to dispense with service, and may ask you to attend a hearing or to make more enquiries. If service is dispensed with, the case can continue without the respondent being served.
Common mistakes
- Using D13B when you know where the respondent lives but they have not replied.
- Not exhibiting the letters and replies the statement refers to.
- Leaving questions blank: the form says all questions must be answered.
- Not checking whether the respondent has already ended the marriage or civil partnership.
Common questions
I applied online. Do I use this form?
If the respondent does not respond, the court contacts you and tells you what you can do. Follow what the court tells you in your account.
Why would I ask for a search on form D440 first?
Note 9 of the form suggests, in suitable cases (for example where the respondent has not been heard of for 2 years or more), a search to make sure they have not already ended the marriage or civil partnership.
Where these facts come from
These are the official rules and pages this page is based on. They are listed so you can check a detail for yourself; you do not need them to use Wren. They are outside Wren and open in a new tab.