Under the changes, the fees charged for divorces will be lifted from £410 to £550. It was revealed midway through last year that the MoJ was consulting on a round of court fee adjustments, including the potential hike in divorce fees. However, family lawyers only this week learned that the MoJ is pushing ahead with the increase from an email sent out to divorce units around the United Kingdom.
Family lawyers have criticised both the scale of the increase and the lack of sufficient notice given to practitioners. One lawyer, Resolution chair Jo Edwards, described the change as ‘scandalous’, criticizing the MoJ for a lack of transparency and proper consultation around the increase, and pointing out that the last hike in divorce fees came just two years ago.
‘As a result of the steep increase, many people currently in the process of separating will have received incorrect information as to the charge for lodging a divorce petition and, in reality, won’t have time to get their petition in before the fee increase takes place,’ she said.
Another lawyer, Marilyn Stowe of Stowe Family Law, described the charge as ‘exorbitant and unjustified’, especially given that the actual cost of a divorce is ‘circa £270.’
Source: Law Society Gazette
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