Family law organisation Resolution has released new information on ongoing government plans to centralise divorce courts across the country.
Following a meeting with Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), the organisation has published the latest timetable for the opening of centralised divorce centres across the country.
Six of the newly centralised divorce courts are already open: Durham, Doncaster and Bradford in the North East; along with Neath & Port Talbot, Newport and Wrexham in Wales. The designated divorce centre for the North West region is due to open in Liverpool this month, along with two for the Midlands, in Nottingham and Stoke-on-Trent respectively.
The designated divorce court for the South West will follow in Southampton this April.
Plans for London and the South East remain in development but current plans include a divorce court in Bury St Edmunds, which scheduled to open its doors in October.
Litigants will still be able to make more urgent divorce applications, along with financial ‘remedy’ applications, via the Central Family Court in London, but most uncontested financial remedy applications will be handled by district judges in the various divorce centres. Litigants will be possible to apply to family courts outside the areas in which they live if they have a specific reason for doing so.
Resolution represents legal professionals who are interested in promoting a “non-confrontational” approach to family law.
