Couples ‘in limbo’ as divorce takes longer than a year

Workloads and changes intended to streamline judicial hearings to blame for ‘large backlog’ of cases

MARRIED couples are having to wait longer than a year before being granted a divorce, according to data, with family lawyers blaming the Government for the increasing delays.

Family court figures show that couples can expect to wait up to 56 weeks until their divorce is finalised. In 2013 the average wait from petition to decree absolute was 48 weeks.

The growing delays follow reforms by the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) in 2015 which aimed to streamline the system, cut costs and save judicial time.

Prior to 2015, couples wanting a divorce had to go to one of 47 regional courts across the country. These were centralised, leaving just 11 Regional Divorce Centres. However, legal experts claim that couples are being left “in limbo” and that the figures show that the reforms have backfired.

Kate Ryan, a family lawyer and partner at IBB Solicitors, said: “The specialist divorce centres set up in 2015 are not functioning effectively. Undoubtedly this was not what was envisaged by the MOJ when they were established.

“Many of these centres experience high volumes of divorce work resulting in a large backlog. This means the court process for dealing with documents is taking longer than ever.

“This impacts upon people who are waiting for their divorce so they can finally move on with their lives,” Ms Ryan added. “The delay is often compounded by a lack of communication from the court and the difficulty people experience in speaking with someone at the court about their case.” The family lawyer called on the MOJ to increase family court resources, saying that delays on such “sensitive and important matters impact upon the whole family”.

The statistics were compiled by Wilsons, a private client law firm, and showed a steady increase in waiting time for couples. For the third quarter of 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, couples had to wait 48.06 weeks, 48.64 weeks, 47.31 weeks, 47.36 weeks, 49.14 weeks and 56.04 weeks, respectively.

While the latest statistics for the fourth quarter of 2018 show a slight decrease at 54.3 weeks, Jacqueline Fitzgerald, partner and head of the Family team at Wilsons, said it is unacceptable that couples wanting to divorce are still forced to wait more than a year.

She said: “These delays are enormously difficult for divorcing couples. They are stuck in limbo, unable to move on until the courts finally get around to dealing with them.

“For the average wait for a divorce to pass the one-year barrier for the first time is a very worrying sign.

“The Regional Divorce Centres have had a very difficult first three years, and the problems are getting worse, not better – 56 weeks is the average wait – many take much longer.”

She added that the impact of austerity on government funding is only set to have a further detrimental effect on the efficacy of the family courts.

Treasury figures reveal the Moj’s budget will be cut to £6billion in 201920, from £6.3 billion in 2018-19. By 2023-24, it is predicted to have halved in little more than a decade.

A spokesman for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service said: “Cases are being dealt with quicker since we increased the number of judicial sitting days and recruited extra judges and staff to meet increased demand in the family court.

“We also recently announced online divorce applications to simplify the process and help reduce the delay.”