Head of Family Neil Russell comments on the number of divorce applications reaching their highest level in a decade, following the introduction of the new no-fault divorce that came into law on 6 April.
Neil comments “So, one quarter in from 6 April and the introduction of no fault divorce, divorce applications have increased by over 20%.
Considering that 2021 saw an increase of 7% in the same period from 2020, on the face of it, the statistics show that the divorce rates continue to be on the rise. However, it must be taken into account that a number of people clearly waited in the first quarter of 2022 to be able to proceed with no fault divorce so this may explain the surge.
The figures for January to March were down 2% on the equivalent quarter in 2021. With the precarious situation in the economy right now and the bottleneck in the first quarter of the year, I think we need to wait longer before concluding there is a steep upward trend in divorce.
Interestingly, the statistics reveal a 31% decrease in the number of financial remedy cases, which may be as result of more people opting for alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration and private Financial Dispute Resolution Appointments.”
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