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Increase in court fees – in family cases

An announcement was made at the end of July this year by the government that court fees will once again be significantly increased. Since Legal Aid was abolished for most cases back in April 2013, access to justice for the less wealthy has become somewhat of a contested issue, surely a rise in the court fees will put people off going to court when they have genuine claims.


The cost for filing for divorce is due to increase by £140, from £410 to £550. This is an increase of over 34%! Considering on average 4 out of 10 marriages ends in divorce this will affect a vast amount of people. Furthermore the cost of a contested application is due to rise from £155 to £255 and in some cases where there are multiple issues to be resolved, there will be more than 1 application to be made.

Coupled with the introduction of a new regional divorce centre in February of this year, with delays in processing divorce petitions of up to 8 weeks, the divorce process is not only costly but also takes a considerable amount of time.

To assist our clients, here at Eric Robinson Solicitors, our Family Department offers fixed fee packages for both Petitioners and Respondent’s in divorce.  Act now before the above increase in court fees is implemented by calling one of our local offices to book your initial 30 minute free consultation with one of our Family trained experts.