Cost of living crisis: How divorcing couples are turning to agreeable settlements to save money

With on average 42% of marriage ending in divorce, and the average cost of divorce estimated at £14,500+VAT as well as continued extreme delays in family court proceedings, more and more separating couples would benefit from exploring more conciliary routes towards divorce to resolve their marital disputes.

Since the No Fault Divorce legislation came into effect last April, different models – including Family Law Partners’ own new ‘Agreeable’ model – are set to gain in popularity. Agreeable, where a specialist family lawyer and a relationship coach work together with the divorcing couple to reduce legal costs and the emotional impact and to keep the dispute out of the courts, can help couples at a time when many are being crippled by increased cost of living expenses. Fixed fee models like these may save the average couple save thousands of pounds (as much as 37%) on an average divorce.

In addition to saving couples money, opting to avoid the traditional court process also avoids separating couples being locked in months and months of court proceedings.

During Resolution’s recent ‘Good Divorce Week’ they reported that official figures show that private children’s cases are taking nearly a year to reach conclusion, six weeks longer than the previous year, with financial remedy cases taking even longer. This is having a huge impact and a survey of Resolution members found:

• 20% said court delays caused clients to rely on benefits

• 34% said they’d referred a client to a counsellor or therapist to help them cope with the stress of ongoing court delays

• 90% said court backlogs were causing additional and unnecessary stress and pressure for clients

In a time when many are being crippled by increased cost of living expenses and even the Chancellor acknowledging the cost of childcare in his recent Spring Statement, finding a quicker and more cost-effective way to finalise marital disputes is essential for many.

To find out more about Agreeable please contact the Family Law Partners team at enquiries@familylawpartners.co.uk