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

Recently, the controversial plans to increase the £410 fee payable to the courts when filing for a divorce to £750 were scrapped by Justice Secretary Chris Grayling. The plans to increase these fees had been much maligned, largely as a result of the fact that the vast majority of divorcees are unsure of why they are required to pay any fees to the court at all. However annoying it may be, though, there is a valid reason the courts request a fee before they can begin processing a divorce. The first and most obvious reason is that it costs the courts money to process a divorce. General fees are accrued as a result of the fact that documents will need to be posted to both parties and that court staff, including a Judge, will need to review the documentation that has been submitted in order to determine whether or not the court can actually grant a divorce. Now, it may be true that the court system is funded by the taxpayer and you may well therefore feel that you have already paid for such a service. As with certain services that are provided by the NHS – such as dentistry – however, it has been decided that it is appropriate for people to pay a fee in order to encourage them not to file for divorce frivolously. Whether the £410 fee that applies is justified is another matter entirely. As it stands, the courts accrue costs of £270 for every uncontested divorce they process. As the court fees for a divorce currently stand at £410, it is estimated that the courts generate profits of £16.8 million from divorce annually. This has proven to be a contentious issue amongst the public and politicians alike. Many argue that an inflated fee discourages divorce and urges couples that are experiencing difficulties to resolve them. Others claim that the vast majority of divorcing couples will have taken steps to try and save their marriages and that, by charging these individuals an additional fee, a difficult situation is merely made more problematic. These reasons are little more than a simplified summary of the arguments put forward by both sides and Quickie Divorce would like to know what you think; are the fees fair? Are they excessive? Let us know by leaving a comment.