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On the 22nd April, major changes were made to the divorce process in the UK. It is no longer necessary, for example, to file a ‘Statement of Arrangements for Children’ (also known as a D8a) form if there are children under 18 that have been born to both parties or that lived with them as part of their family during their marriage and you are filing for a divorce.

Additionally and undoubtedly the most notable of the changes, though, is the need for people to attend a mediation session before they can apply to the court for any orders relating to their children or finances. Fortunately, Quickie Divorce can confirm that, provided the parties agree to the divorce, then they will not be required to attend mediation before beginning the process.

Whilst the opposite has been reported in various newspapers and websites, couples are only required to attend a mediation information assessment meeting (where it is decided whether or not mediation could be used to resolve the dispute in question) when they are asking the courts to determine something such as with whom their children should live, who will keep the matrimonial home etc. As individuals that use our services are in full agreement and both consent to the divorce, it will not be necessary for them to attend any mediation sessions before they file their documents with the court. Additionally, if a couple have agreed on how they want to divide their finances and wish to file for a Consent Order in order to make their agreement final and legally binding then, as there is no dispute, they will not need to attend a mediation session either.

These changes have been brought in as legal aid has not been available for divorcing couples for over 12 months now and this has resulted in more and more couples representing themselves in contested matters. As a result, the courts are spending more and more time helping such individuals and have found themselves overburdened.

The government had hoped that couples that were no longer entitled to legal representation through the legal aid system would instead use mediation (which is still available under legal aid) in order to resolve their differences.

Following an agreement having been reached, the process of ending their marriage would be a straightforward task that would require very little time on the part of the court’s staff. Unfortunately, as people were no longer entitled to free legal advice, they were not referred to mediators by solicitors and, as most were not aware of such services, simply proceeded to ask the court to decide matters. The number of people using mediation actually fell as a result and the government's plan backfired. These new rules, then, are an attempt to address this situation and to, where possible, help separating couples agree to matters and save the courts time. As stated previously, though, if you agree to your divorce, then it will not be necessary for you to attend mediation.

If you and your spouse agree to a divorce and you want to save thousands of pounds, then visit www.quickie-divorce.com to see how we can help you today.