Family lawyer Nigel Shepherd discusses the impact of delays on legal fees and case evidence and says the continued uncertainty for families leaves them unable to move on with their lives. The focus should not be on the costs of out-of-court dispute resolution, he suggests, but the cost of delay. Describing arbitration as one of family law’s “best kept secrets”, Shepherd advocates for its use to enable greater certainty within a more predictable timeframe
One of the most common objections to family arbitration is cost. Because an arbitrator must be paid directly, the process is sometimes viewed as an expensive alternative to court proceedings.
However, having worked in family law for many years, I have often felt that this focuses attention on the wrong issue. The question should not simply be what arbitration costs. It should also be what delay costs.
That distinction is felt strongly when pressure on the family court system continues to affect the pace at which cases can progress. Hearings can take months to arrange and families can find themselves waiting far longer than anticipated for decisions that will shape the next stage of their lives.
Against that backdrop, the latest figures from the Institute of Family Law Arbitrators show that family law arbitrations doubled between 2023 and 2025. Whilst arbitration remains less familiar than the court process, the increase suggests that more people are beginning to recognise its advantages.
The hidden cost of delay
One of the biggest misconceptions in family law is that delay has no real consequences.
The reality is that prolonged proceedings frequently generate additional expense. Legal fees continue to accrue, financial disclosure may need updating, valuations may need revisiting and expert evidence may require further work. At the same time, uncertainty remains unresolved, making it harder for families to move forward.
For that reason, I have never believed that the true comparison is between the cost of arbitration and the cost of court proceedings. In many cases, the more relevant comparison is between the cost of arbitration and the overall cost of reaching the same outcome through a slower process.
Why arbitration deserves greater attention
I have long felt that arbitration is one of family law’s best-kept secrets.
Arbitration allows parties to appoint an independent arbitrator and work towards a binding decision according to a timetable that reflects the needs of the case rather than the availability of the court. For many families, that ability to achieve certainty within a more predictable timeframe is a significant advantage.
The changes to the Family Procedure Rules introduced in 2024 have also encouraged greater consideration of non-court dispute resolution (NCDR), whilst organisations such as the Family Law Arbitrators Group (FLAG) are helping improve awareness of the process.
Where mediation, collaborative practice or negotiation have not resulted in agreement, arbitration can often provide a quicker route to a final outcome. In many situations, the savings generated through a shorter process will offset, and sometimes exceed, the cost of the arbitrator’s fee.
Helping clients move forward
That focus on helping people move forward is also one of the reasons behind Untangled’s recent rebrand from Ampla Finance.
The new name reflects a simple idea. When family disputes become complicated, the financial side should not make matters harder. Whether a client is funding legal representation, expert reports, mediation or arbitration, the aim is to provide a clear route forward during what is often a highly uncertain period.
Litigation funding fits alongside arbitration in much the same way as it does with court proceedings. Untangled can lend for arbitration within financial remedy matters and children cases linked to financial remedy proceedings, whether arbitration is chosen at the outset or later in the process. Funding can include legal fees, expert fees and the cost of the arbitrator as part of the overall facility.
I suspect its growth is far from over. As awareness continues to improve, more families are likely to ask whether the perceived cost of arbitration is really the issue, or whether the greater cost lies in waiting longer than necessary for a resolution.
Nigel Shepherd is a family law specialist at Untangled
