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Edit: At time of edit, in 2018, court fees have risen again to £550

*Please note that this article was written before changes were made to the court's remission systems on the 7th October 2013.

Quickie Divorce may offer services that ease the otherwise expensive process of divorce but, as they say, only two things in life are certain: death and taxes, and, unfortunately, even divorces are taxed. Well, sort of.

You see, when applying for a divorce, you need to pay court fees. These total £410 and are paid in order to cover the court’s costs. Fortunately, though, many are entitled to a significant reduction in these fees, whilst some won’t even need to pay a penny.

Unfortunately, few people realise that courts in England and Wales can waive or reduce their fees under certain circumstances and even those who are aware are unsure of what would entitle them to an exemption or remission or how to go about getting one. The purpose of this article, then, is to inform our readers of what would entitle them to a full or part remission of these fees and how to apply for them.

In order to apply to have your court fees fully waived, you will need to be in receipt of certain state benefits, specifically income based jobseekers allowance, income support, working tax credit (but not if you also receive child tax credit,) pension credit guarantees or income-related employment and support allowance. You’ll need to get a letter from the relevant authority as proof of the fact that you’re receiving these benefits, but provided you meet these circumstances, then completing the necessary form is fairly straightforward.

Alternatively, if your gross annual income is below £13,000, then you will be entitled to a full remission. If you live with a partner, then your combined gross annual income will need to be below £18,000. This limit increases by £2,930 for every dependent child that lives with you, so a single person that cares for two children would be entitled to a full remission if their gross annual income was less than £18,860, for example. You will be required to provide evidence of all forms of income such as wage slips, rent books and bank statements when submitting an ex160 form.

Finally, even if you are not entitled to a full remission, you might well be entitled to a reduction on the fees that the courts require in order to process a divorce. The courts require a fee of £345 when a divorce petition is filed, but, if your monthly disposable income is less than £790 then you’ll be entitled to a reduction. Be wary when applying on these grounds, though, disposable income is classed as any money you have left after you deduct your monthly mortgage/rent payments, a fixed allowanced for your partner and children (if applicable) and general living expenses, all of which are capped at £159, £244 and respectively. As with all of the examples above, you’ll need to send evidence of your income and outgoings.

Once you have done your sums, you’ll need to complete an EX160 form and send this, along with the relevant evidence, instead of a cheque, to the court when you file your Divorce Petition.

For more information, please visit the HMCTS website.

*This article has been altered to reflect the changes to court fees which came into force on the 1st July 2013.