The Ministry of Justice has recently announced that it plans to increase the Court fee payable when a Petition is sent to Court. The fee is presently £410.00 but is set to increase to £550.00 later this year. No fixed date has yet been proposed for the increase but family law circles are suggesting that it might take place around September time.
The fee increase will certainly make some people think long and hard about whether they can afford to divorce their spouse and the only silver lining is that the Ministry of Justice did not increase it to a huge £750.00 which they had considered doing. This would have been an 80% increase in the fee payable to the Court.
Safeguards will remain in place to protect the most vulnerable members of society in that in certain circumstances people can apply for a fee exemption. This can be applied for by a person who is on a low wage or is in receipt of certain benefits.
This unwelcome news comes and a time when the cuts in the availability of funding for family law matters are already causing many people to feel that they cannot afford to use a Solicitor to help with their case. It is more important than ever to ensure that you get a quality service for an affordable price. At Sultan Lloyd Solicitors we are able to offer competitive fixed fees for most family law matters and you can rest assured that your case will be dealt with by a qualified Solicitor. The advice at this stage is that if you are considering a divorce and want to save yourself money, you should think about getting the ball rolling sooner rather than later to avoid having to pay the higher Court fee.
Christine Rawsthorne
Sultan Lloyd
28 July 2015.