Following a consultation into court costs earlier this year, fees will increase from the end of this month.
The costs of some Family Court applications are set to increase, in line with inflation, following the introduction of the Court Fees (Miscellaneous Amendment) Order on 30 September 2021.
For divorce and financial proceedings such as a decree of divorce, nullity of a marriage or the dissolution or nullity of a civil partnership, the application fee will increase from £550 to £593. Similarly, an application for a Decree Nisi, conditional order, decree of judicial separation or a separation order, will increase from £50 to £54.
Financial orders agreed to by consent will remain the same with application fees costing £50. However, for contested financial matters application fees will increase from £255 to £275.
Applications for children issues, including any of the following orders, will be increasing from £215 to £232:
- A Child Arrangements Order
- A Specific Issue Order
- A Prohibited Steps Order
- A Special Guardianship Order
The fee increase has been implemented following a consultation earlier this year in which the Ministry of Justice stated that court and tribunal fees brought in a net income of £724 million in 2019/2020 against the £2 billion running costs of HMCTS.
The Ministry of Justice explained the increases, commenting that:
“Like other government departments, the Ministry of Justice has a responsibility to assess its costs and deliver savings to reduce the cost to the taxpayer. Fees are a major source of income for the MoJ and any increases to fees ultimately reduce taxpayer funding required.”
The full list of fee increases can be found here.
