The changing family law practice

The Family Justice system is now subject to fundamental and far-reaching change with both public and private law consultations underway with regards to Children law with a clear emphasis on private law cases being kept or pushed out of the court system. The same trend can be expected in respect of finance cases [aided by the Big Data project]. Family structures are changing with fewer marriages less divorce and cohabitation on the rise. The makeup of families is also changing and will need different solutions when they break down.

Alongside the reforms the government digital delivery programme has already seen the introduction of the online divorce application and by the end of this year it will be possible to complete an uncontested divorce procedure from start to finish online.  So far 35 000 people have opted to use the online application in fact 55% of all divorce petitions issued by litigants in person during the past 10 months.  The error rate on online petitions is 0.4% in stark contrast to the 40% error rate in paper petitions.  84% of those using the online process have...

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