The Times reported yesterday that the Ministry of Justice, who published that Weston-Super-Mare was a divorce ‘hot spot’, is actually false as 92% of petitions are filed by the site Divorce Online who say they were advised to use the Court there because it had more capacity!
However, the December 2012 Office of National Statistics report stated that:
- The number of divorces in England and Wales in 2011 was 117,558, a decrease of 1.7% since 2010, when there were 119,589 divorces.
- The number of divorces in 2011 was highest among men and women aged 40 to 44.
- Based on marriage, divorce and mortality statistics for 2010, it is estimated that the percentage of marriages ending in divorce is 42%.
It’s therefore not surprising that the government is seeking to encouraging couples to mediate when they separate, with divorce “hot spots” in England and Wales being published by the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday. Outside of Greater London 2,799 petitions were issued in Birmingham, with 2,437 in Weston-Super-Mare followed by 1,831 in Leicester.
Mediation is often cheaper, simpler and quicker than a court process and an amicable agreement is always preferred to a battle especially with the Ministry of Justice comparing the average costs of a publicly funded client resolving property and financial disputes caused by separation as being around £500 with mediation compared to £4,000 through the court process.
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