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The fact that the courts charge a fee of £550 when someone files for a divorce is, unsurprisingly, a huge bugbear for many. After all, the courts hardly make it clear what people will be getting for their money; so much so that many people assume that this fee will entitle them to help with their forms, assistance when negotiating a financial settlement etc. In truth, this fee pays for very little. A review of the required documents and a few minutes of a judge’s time are, ultimately, all that payees receive in exchange for their hard-earned cash.

With the fee in question often larger than that which people would pay an online divorce provider like Quickie Divorce, those that know what they’ll receive in exchange for their fee consistently deem it to be unreasonable. Others will find themselves frustrated when they discover that, in spite of them having paid several hundred pounds to the court, they will receive no assistance in exchange.

Ultimately, the UK’s government claims that this fee is required so that the courts can cover the costs they accrue handling each divorce application. This, though, is widely disputed and reputable sources such as the Ministry of Justice have claimed that this fee is actually being used as a means of generating money, something which is supported by the fact that the fee payable to the court when filing for divorce has risen substantially over the past decade.

Prior to the 21st March 2016, the court fee concerning divorce applications stood at £410 and had been just £340 prior to this. The £340 fee was introduced in January 2006 with it previously having been £240. As a result, the fee payable to the court when filing for a divorce has more than doubled in just over a decade – well above the rate of inflation.

What makes this even more irksome is the fact that it’s estimated – again by the Ministry of Justice – that the actual costs of administering a divorce is just £270. This means that, if we were to set aside the losses they’ll make as a result of some applicants being entitled to fee remissions and reductions, the courts generate a profit of £280 with every divorce application they receive. In 2016, 107,071 divorces were processed meaning that profits of almost £30 million were generated for the courts. Considering that the fee is payable at the start of the process and that many people don’t go on to finalise their divorces, thus reducing the courts workload, it’s likely that the profits generated by divorce were even higher.

So, why do you pay £550 to the courts when filing for a divorce? To add more money to the nation’s treasury!

If you’re looking for a low-cost divorce solution, get in touch with Quickie Divorce and find out how we can help you today.