Are there any pitfalls I should be aware of?

Yes. There is the potential that you may be given very short notice of the divorce being submitted by your spouse as they now have 28 days to serve the respondent from the date they issue it.

Further, even though you may decide to apply jointly for the divorce, this does not guarantee you will continue as joint applicants in the divorce application. Perhaps because of further deterioration of the relationship with the other party, or where the other party is not taking the necessary action to progress the application, it is possible to ‘switch’ the application from joint to sole. This can only happen at conditional and final order application stage.

Lastly, it is important to remain fully aware of the timetable of the divorce so that you can protect your rights as a spouse, until you have a financial order in place.