The Family Mediation Voucher Scheme is being extended until April 2025. It provides separating couples with vouchers worth up to £500 towards the cost of family or divorce mediation. This is costing the government another £15 million. So far, the Read more…
The number of people applying to get divorced is now at its highest in ten years. It’s feared that the cost of living puts marriages under financial strain. That contrasts starkly with 2021 having the lowest level of divorces for Read more…
The proportion of adults in the UK who have never been married or entered into a civil partnership is increasing. In 1991, just over a quarter of adults were single. That is now nearly forty per cent. As of 2021, Read more…
In a recent BBC Radio 4 interview, Sir Andrew McFarlane’s frustration was palpable. This reflected the view of many of his colleagues and family professionals about the number of parents ending up in the court system. In 2020, a Read more…
The Office for National Statistics has published divorce statistics for last year. There was a 9% increase in divorces granted in England and Wales compared with 2020. However, this could reflect catch-up from the pandemic) Women were more likely to Read more…
Family law cases are taking longer to resolve than during the Covid restrictions. The government says mediation is the solution, but removing legal aid for most private law family cases means many couples are not even aware it exists. Legal Read more…
Domestic abusers are now no longer able to cross-examine their victims in family and civil courts. The move follows concerns that perpetrators were using the process as a means of extending their abuse and victims were being re-traumatised by their Read more…
Couples going through a divorce may soon have to use mediation rather than take their case to court. Under new plans—currently being drawn up by the government—they will also be ordered to pay their partners’ costs if they turn down Read more…
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed it will continue to fund the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme until 1 April 2022. The FMC hopes to confirm the length of the extension soon, but in the meantime, they can confirm that funding Read more…
Divorce applications increase in the first week of the new law There were three thousand divorce applications in the first week after the introduction of the new Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act, which is a 50% increase on the weekly Read more…