A digital online divorce scheme has been rolled out across England and Wales following a successful pilot, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed.
Under the new system, divorcing couples can apply online, including making the payment and uploading supporting evidence. The pilot tested more than 1,000 divorce petitions, with a 91% satisfaction rate among participants. According to the MoJ, only 0.6% of digital forms have been rejected since January—far fewer than those returned due to mistakes made on paper applications.
Divorce lawyer Henry Hood, head of family at Hunters Solicitors, said: ‘The savings are remarkable and presumably achieved by having an entirely administrative process operated by court staff with no judicial involvement whatever.
‘This is however at odds with having a divorce process that, in relation to behaviour petitions, requires that judicial involvement. Perhaps this, more than any other argument, will persuade the government to support the campaign to introduce no-fault divorce, on which it has so far sat on the fence.’
