Those of you of a certain age (myself included) will remember the phrase as to last week's headlines being tomorrow's fish and chip paper. Well health and safety has put pay to that! The headlines which have particularly annoyed me recently have been in been in respect of the publicity over new divorce centres, headlines such as :-
- "Why quickie divorces are a good idea" - Daily Telegraph
- "Over the counter drop in divorce centres" - Daily Star
- "As easy as applying for a television licence" - Daily MailThose of you who may have read my previous article about Sheffield divorce proceedings now being issued out of the Doncaster Court, this is exactly what the press are referring to in their headlines and yes, I did say "Court" and not "divorce centre". The process for getting a divorce has not changed. The essence of every divorce is still that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and this is proved by one of five facts being adultery, unreasonable behaviour, 2 years desertion, 2 years separation with consent and 5 years separation without consent. The forms remain the same, the court fee remains the same, and it is simply that by all divorces in the locality (for us South Yorkshire and Humberside) being processed out of the one place (Doncaster), that the process should prove more efficient. Certainly when the new system came into place last year, there was a considerable improvement in the speed papers were being dealt with although delays have now started to creep in. In the event that issues arise as to the divorce or finances, then the papers will be sent back to the parties' local Court. Straight forward, paper divorces where no attendances are required will remain in Doncaster. So, if nothing has changed, why has this story hit the headlines only now when our local divorce hub (Court) and others around the country have been up and running since last year? London. The new divorce hub for London and the South East has only just been set up and will be in Bury St Edmunds. It will take over divorce work from 45 local courts and it is estimated will deal with 40% of all divorces issued out of England and Wales. The transfer of work will not be completed until the end of 2015.
News, what news? For further information please contact Lindsey Canning at [email protected] or on 0114266 6660.
