How long will it take to get divorced?

Rhona Royle, Head of Family Law at Wrigley Claydon Solicitors, comments:

Only a few years back when posed with this question by a new client I’d have advised with some confidence “about 6 to 9 months”.

Not any longer.

Figures released for the first quarter of this year showed that the average time for getting from the start of the case (the issue of a divorce petition) to the end (receipt of the Decree Absolute) it is now taking an average of 59 weeks or over 14 months!

This is an increase of 6 weeks from the same period last year.

So why might this be?

More cases for the courts to deal with? Fewer court staff to process the paperwork and Judges to make decisions? Withdrawal of legal aid for early advice?

To a degree, all these factors appear to be contributing.

In the first three months of this year just over 29,000 new divorce cases were started up 6% from the same period in 2018.

But it is the impact of an increase in all types of family cases not just divorces. Domestic violence case starts were up by 15% and “private law” cases (namely those between parents to settle the arrangements for where children should live and how much time they should spend with the other parent) were up 12%.

The number of courts dealing with Divorce cases drastically reduced upon the creation of 11 “Regional Divorce Centres”.

The most senior Family Judge, Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division said earlier in the year that these centres “have not worked well” and “indeed some, including {the Regional Centre for the North West} Liverpool have provided a wholly unacceptable service”.

His predecessor, Sir James Munby, said the centres had become “bywords for delay and inefficiency, essentially because HM Courts and Tribunal Service had been unable or unwilling to furnish them with adequate numbers of staff and judges”. Not a ringing endorsement for a process you must pay a court fee of £550 for!

In April 2013 legal aid for many Private law cases and early advice was removed which inevitably led to litigants representing themselves. Having two warring parties in court without the filter of legal representation inevitably causes cases to take longer.

In the quarter to March 2013 (before the removal of legal aid) both parties had legal representation in 41% of cases by the first quarter of this year that figure had dropped to 19%.

What does the future look like? In one-word DIGITAL.

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