According to Sir Michael Pitt, in a speech he gave at the Modern law Conference on 11 March 2015, online divorces are more likely to be amicable (86%), compared to those using a traditional lawyer (56%), but there are good levels of satisfaction of about 80% for all providers (both traditional lawyers and online providers). Sir Michael is Chairman of the Legal Services Board which is the organisation responsible for overseeing the provision of legal services.

These statistics are taken from a soon to be published Legal Services Board research project, which has examined the experience of just over 180 couples petitioning for divorce, comparing an online divorce with a traditional face to face service with a solicitor.

When asked about these statistics, Colin Mitchell, who is a specialist family law solicitor and Head of the Family Team at Kiteleys Solicitors, made the following observations:

• What this study of a simple online divorce process does not take into account, is the need that most divorcing couples have for help resolving disputes over financial issues or children arrangements. The research project itself was not designed to test the technical quality of advice supplied by online divorce services.

• Approaching a “traditional lawyer”, such as the service provided by Kiteleys Family Team, rarely results in a divorcing couple ending up in Court. This is because specialist family law solicitors work closely with other local professionals such as mediators. This face to face service enables divorcing couples to communicate in a constructive and non-confrontational way to resolve their disagreement, which is not possible via an online service.

• It is significant that whilst 56% of couples who divorce via a “traditional lawyer” describe their experience as “amicable” (compared to 86% for online divorce), the overall satisfaction levels for both options are virtually the same. This suggests that those couples who have face to face legal help when their divorce is not amicable, are still just as satisfied at the end because of the face to face help they receive to resolve their dispute.

• The recent Supreme Court ruling in the case of Kathleen Wyatt and Dale Vince highlights the problem that merely getting divorced (which is often the easy and amicable part when a married couple split up), does not in itself provide any certainty or safeguard concerning financial issues.

If you have a family problem which you need help resolving, Colin Mitchell is available to speak with for a free initial telephone assessment on 01202 393506

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