Ministry of
Justice figures show 40% (11,129 out of 28,144) of divorce applications
were filed online in the second quarter of 2019.
However,
expectations of speedier divorces have failed to materialise as overburdened
court staff struggle to deal with IT failures, recruitment shortages and a lack
of resources. It can take several weeks to process simple documents, and
couples are waiting 59 weeks to finalise their divorce, compared to 48.5 weeks
in 2014. This time period does not include post-divorce arrangements for assets
and children.
Jacqueline Fitzgerald, family partner at law firm Wilsons, said: ‘The family court service
has become very slow indeed and divorcing couples should be aware that several
bottlenecks mean their divorce could take well over a year. Without more
funding for resources it is unlikely that this will improve.’
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