The hidden costs of DIY divorce

Family law is a
practice area which
is undergoing a particularly pronounced metamorphosis. The slashing
of legal aid has naturally played
a major role in this, and the court system is fast becoming almost unrecognisable. Reform, or reorganisation, is taking place at breakneck speed.

The most recent figures from the family court service, Cafcass, which were released in 2014, showed that in 42 per cent of cases now coming before the family courts neither party was represented by a lawyer, compared with 18 per cent before the cuts.

There has also been a significant rise in people undertaking their own DIY divorce proceedings, with online divorce provider Divorce-Online reporting a 56 per cent increase in clients in 2014 compared to 2013.

The tide of change shows no sign of slowing, with Sir James Munby, the president of the Family Division, expressing
the desire to see the process
of divorce ‘uncoupled’ from the process of adjudicating claims for financial relief following divorce. He has also predicted
a time when divorcing couples may cut ties with the court system altogether and divorce will become a purely administrative process.

In our day-to-day reality, defended divorces involving appearing at court and giving evidence are extremely rare. As we know, the whole process can be dealt with without anyone having to go anywhere near their local court.

But, before we rush to embrace the dawning of a new age for the divorce process, it’s important not to overlook or undersell the immense value which having an experienced, expert lawyer on hand can add to divorce proceedings – and many other family law matters.

When considering the
stark facts of the online versus traditional divorce proceedings, it can be easy to overlook
the myriad eccentricities, dissimilarities and discrepancies which we see on a case-by-case basis. Due to the intrinsically personal nature of divorce, each case is unique; even the most amicable and straightforward cases have their particular quirks.

In many cases, divorce is not
a paper-shuffling, box-ticking exercise which can be resolved with a few strokes of a keyboard, but a deeply personal and life-altering experience. DIY divorces provide the mechanism for ending the marriage and presenting both parties with a decree absolute but don’t take into account many of the peripheral – but vitally important – issues which need to be examined and resolved when two people part ways.

Dealing with this multi-layered process at arm’s length through an online provider or by filling in forms will naturally leave holes in the seams of the process. Cheap and easy online divorces often don’t tie up issues like pension-sharing orders, requiring couples to go back to court after the event, when they thought everything had been sewn
up during the initial divorce proceedings. Other problems regarding children, property,
and finances may come creeping through these gaps at a much later and more inconvenient date.

One of the great things about major shifts in landscapes and trends is the opportunity created to evolve and adapt. Family law is in the midst of a tectonic shift – we can feel the plates moving beneath the sector, and our response to these changes will inform whether we evolve and thrive or stay still and become outmoded.

Adapting our offering and ensuring that people are aware of the potential risks they face from online ‘quickie’ divorces is one key factor in this. Looking at added value and deepening the client experience is another.

Clients need to remain at the heart of any professional service. Although technology rightly has a role to play in the delivery
of many elements of law,
the relationship with the client
and the consideration of their specific circumstances is vital. Although we are seeing a broader digital offering in the legal sector, which will no doubt help some firms gain more work, this single-minded pursuit of speed and efficiency shouldn’t overshadow the importance of the lawyer’s role.

When we see our clients, we are not simply providing an administrative service to complete forms for a divorce. Thorough and accurate advice has to be given on a variety of issues which may not have occurred to the parties otherwise but which can produce all manner of unintended consequences if not considered. Couples who may have thought their quickie divorce process was straightforward and uncomplicated may be forced to return to court at a later date to rake over the coals of a divorce which they thought had been settled and completed – but which turns out to be anything but. Unfortunately,
in this situation – as in so many others – people will get what they pay for, and low-cost divorces can often result in expensive mistakes, which can take significant time and energy to rectify. SJ