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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