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Prior to October 2014, individuals that wished to file for a divorce would not be required to pay the court’s fees if they received certain benefits or if their annual income was less than a specified amount.

As of October 2014, however, it was decided that those who were applying to have their court fees waived or reduced would first be required to prove that they were not in possession of disposable capital of a certain value – but what does this mean exactly?

To put it simply, this new rule means that in order for an individual to have the court’s fees for a divorce either waived or reduced they must show that they do not have savings or possessions (which they could reasonably be expected to sell) that are worth more than a certain amount.

In the case of the fees for divorce, which stand at £550 at the time of writing, an individual with savings/disposable possessions worth less than £3,000 will be entitled to apply to have their court fee waived or reduced. On the face of things, this may seem simple, but there are a few forms of capital which an individual does not need to disclose to the court when making such an application.

If, for example, the applicant owns a business, then they do not need to consider its value when making an application. Equally important is the fact that the value of a person’s primary home (the value of second homes must be disclosed), their primary mode of transport, the contents of their home, the cash value of any insurance contracts or money accrued from a student loan, grant or awards for injuries suffered or unfair dismissal by an employer should not be considered disposable capital. Redundancy payments, any cash held in any kind of savings account, stock or shares or accessible trust funds must be, however.

In short, having savings alone does not mean that an individual will be required to pay court fees when filing for a divorce.