The Ministry of Justice has announced via a consultation response that it plans to increase the court fee for divorce to £550 – something of a relief compared to the original proposal to increase the fee to a whopping £750. The current fee is £410.
Fee remissions will remain available to protect vulnerable court users.
The £550 fee will apply for all applications started using form D8: divorce (for same and opposite sex marriages, civil partnership dissolution and annulments.
The increase comes against a backdrop of fee uplifts across civil law, including family law.
The consultation response describes the increase to £550 as ‘more affordable’ than the proposed increase to £750. In spite of this many households will struggle to afford the petition fee should they wish to end their marriage or civil partnership. Although fee remissions are to be made more generous, the majority of court users will have to pay the full fee.
According to the MoJ, the income generated by the increased court fees will be use to provide a more effective and efficient court system.