Married couples are having to wait longer than a year before being granted a divorce, new data reveals, as family lawyers blame the government for increasing delays

For the first time, family court figures reveal that couples can now expect to wait up to 56 weeks until their divorce is finalised. This is in comparison to 2013 when the average wait from petition to Decree Absolute was 48 weeks.

The slump in the rate of Decree Absolutes being increased comes following reforms introduced by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in 2015 which aimed to streamline the system, cut costs and save judicial time.

Prior to 2015, couples wanting to divorce had to go to one of 47 regional courts across the country. These were then centralised into just 11 Regional Divorce Centres. However legal experts claim that couples are now left “in limbo”, and that the latest data shows how the reforms have backfired.