Family lawyer issues ‘kinder divorces’ call amid rising court delays

PRESS RELEASE

An Oakham-based family lawyer today called for more support to help divorcing couples reach agreements out of court, with new figures showing family court delays are worsening.

James Belderbos, a family law specialist at Belderbos Solicitors, in Church Street, and a member of Resolution, the body representing 6,500 family justice professionals, is highlighting the issue as part of Good Divorce Week (10-16 November), which runs nationally to raise awareness of ways to reduce conflict during separation.

A parliamentary report revealing that private family court cases in England and Wales now take an average of 41 weeks to conclude, up from 26 weeks in 2018. That’s a 36% increase in just five years. With more than 1,000 new cases starting in the family court every working day, experts fear these delays will continue unless more funding is made available for early legal advice. 

Mr Belderbos, who advises individuals across Rutland and Leicestershire, said:

“As a member of Resolution, I want to see couples approach divorce and separation in a calm and constructive way, especially where children are involved, avoiding lengthy court proceedings wherever possible.

“Whenever we can, we always encourage our clients to look at out-of-court options such as mediation. These routes often lead to more constructive, lasting agreements and can make the process kinder and less stressful for everyone involved.

“This is why I fully support Resolution’s call for more funding and greater awareness of these alternatives, and the need to make them more accessible to separating couples. With such backlogs in the courts system, this is now more important than ever.”

Melanie Bataillard-Samuel, National Chair of Resolution, added:

“Our members are committed to helping separating couples minimise conflict. But they’re currently hampered by a perfect storm of an under-resourced court system, a lack of access to information and advice, and rising numbers of people having to represent themselves in court.

“I’m proud of our members’ efforts to raise awareness of these important issues during Good Divorce Week, as well as their commitment to our Code of Practice all year round. We’ll continue to make the case to government that our members cannot do this alone: we need to ensure the public has access to the right advice at the right time.”