HMCTS has recently informed us that they will now be accepting divorce petitions online. According to HMCTS, since the introduction of the online divorce system there has been a 95% drop in the number of petitions that have been returned because of mistakes as opposed to the paper applications. These changes have been said to be part of a £1 billion programme which will transform the Court system making it easier, more accessible and easier to use.
Whilst it is agreed that this is a step in the right direction to move the legal system in line with modern times and the developments in IT, the real question is whether or not the Divorce Centre will be able to keep up with the number of petitions that are submitted online. Will this increase the overall efficiency of the petition being issued or will this lead to further backlogs in the Court’s current processing times of 55 working days? I guess time is the only factor that will tell us!
HMCTS has also not addressed the added problem that although Petitioners can issue their divorce petitions online, they are unable to issue the other forms online and so the remainder of the proceedings will have to be dealt with in the usual way by post or document exchange. This does not therefore provide Petitioners with a complete service.
At Jefferies we offer a competitive, fixed fee scheme for all divorce proceedings together with a personalised tailor-made service to suit your individual needs, which we are certain you will not obtain from any online system.
If you would like advice on how to begin divorce proceedings or even a quick chat about the procedure involved in issuing divorce proceedings then please contact Ms Farah Naz from our Family Department on 01702 443 480 who will be happy to assist you with your query.