During July to September 2024, there was a decrease in adoption, matrimonial and domestic violence cases; at the same time there have been increases in financial remedy, public law and private law case starts, according to the Family Court Statistics Quarterly: July to September.
Over the same period, cases reaching a final disposal have increased by 6% overall. This was due to increases in most case types: domestic violence (13%), financial remedy (11%), matrimonial (6%) and private law (3%) cases. However, there was a decrease in public law (6%) and adoption (2%) case disposals.
In July to September 2024, 41% of new cases within family courts related to matrimonial matters, down 2 percentage points from the equivalent quarter of 2023.
The mean average time for divorce cases (under no fault divorce law) was up nearly 2 weeks compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023. Private law cases took less time, with the mean average time to first disposal in July to September 2024 taking 27 weeks, down 3 weeks compared to the same period in 2023.
What’s more, there were 27,003 divorce applications made between July to September 2024 under the ‘no fault divorce’ (NFD) legislation. Between July to September 2024 there were 27,003 applications made (74% from sole applicants, 26% from joint applicants). This was a decrease of 6% from the same quarter in 2023.
There were 27,285 final orders granted in July to September 2024, up 6% compared to the same quarter in 2023. In July to September 2024 the mean average time from application to conditional order was 37 weeks down nearly 4 weeks from the same quarter of 2023. The mean average time from application to final order was 63 weeks, down almost 2 weeks from the equivalent quarter in 2023.
For digital divorce cases (i.e. those dealt with the Courts and Tribunals Service Centres that are digital at all stages), there were 26,199 applications made during July to September 2024 (97% of the total, up from 95% in the same period of 2023). The average time to conditional order (94% of the total) for July to September 2024 was 33 weeks, and 52 weeks from application to final order (90% of the total).
In July to September 2024, the number of financial remedy applications was up 7% and the number of disposal events was up 10% compared to the same period in 2023. There were 11,868 financial remedy applications made in July to September 2024, up 7% from the same period in 2023, while there were 11,645 financial remedy disposals events, up 10% compared with a year earlier. During the latest quarter, 76% of applications were uncontested and 24% were contested.
In July to September 2024, there was a 3% decrease in applications made compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023. The number of orders made also decreased by 3% over the same period. The overall picture highlights a longer-term increase in the number of applications, with the number of applications in the latest quarter almost double those made since the series began in 2011 (Table 15).
In July to September 2024, there were 7,848 domestic violence remedy applications, (down by 3% on the same quarter in 2023), requesting a total of 8,988 orders (multiple orders can be applied for in a single application). Most of the orders applied for were non-molestation orders (84%) compared to occupation orders (16%); these proportions have remained relatively consistent in recent years. Applications for non-molestation and occupation orders in July to September 2024 were both down, by 2% and 6% respectively, compared to the same period in 2023.
There were 9,049 domestic violence orders made in July to September 2024, down 3% from the same period last year. 94% were non-molestation orders and 6% were occupation orders, with non-molestation orders down by 4% and occupation orders up by 6% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023.
