June 29, 2015

Roll-out of new divorce hubs continues

Work which has previously been dealt with at 45 courts across London and
the South East will soon be handled at the one venue in Bury St Edmunds.

A phased transfer is already underway and by October this year, almost all of the region’s undefended divorce work will be processed at the centre.

Last month, Resolution chaired a briefing on how the new arrangements would work in practice.

Judge Lynn Roberts, the circuit judge with responsibility for the new centre, has conceded there are several challenges in transferring such a large volume of work to a single site.

Despite the potential difficulties, the judiciary hope that establishing the new regional hubs – Bury St Edmunds will be one of a dozen operating nationwide – will make the process a lot simpler in the long run.

By putting far stricter limits on where couples can file their divorce petition, it is hoped that it will be more difficult for people to commit fraud.

Last year, 180 divorce cases were declared void after an “industrial scale” fraud was uncovered.

Although all the couples concerned had given the same bogus address in Berkshire, it took many months for the deception to come to light, since the petitions were being submitted to dozens of different courts around the country.

At Royds, our experienced family law department are able to advise on all aspects of the divorce process. We will work closely with clients to achieve the best possible outcome. For more information, please visit or contact Patrick Hart.

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