Case study

From paper to digital: bringing more peace of mind to separating couples

Getting divorced is a significant life event that affects thousands of people each year in England and Wales.

From:
HM Courts & Tribunals Service
Published
24 March 2025

Until 2018, the process was entirely paper-based, meaning:聽

  • mistakes were commonly made when completing lengthy, jargon-heavy forms聽

  • delays caused by needing to return high numbers of applications due to errors聽

  • slow notifications to the applicant or legal professional that an application had been received聽

  • hours spent by our people opening post, creating paper case files, tracking down missing forms and taking payments over the telephone聽

  • environmental impacts and cost to the taxpayer associated with printing, posting and transporting paper聽

The service needed modernisation to better serve both the public and legal professionals during what is often an emotionally challenging time.聽

Benefits of the digital service聽

Our modernised divorce service has revolutionised the application process, delivering significant improvements. Since 2019, over 511,000 applications have been made digitally by people getting divorced, meaning:聽

  • internal management information shows that calls from court users are being answered in less than a minute听听

  • they鈥檝e been better supported through being able to access information about help with fees during the application process聽

  • improved clarity and assurance by being able to track and manage multiple processes in their case through one integrated service聽

  • data and sensitive information is protected through more robust privacy protections聽

  • reduced environmental impact by minimising paper usage聽

Our digital transformation聽

The transformation journey began in 2016 with comprehensive user research to understand the challenges faced by divorcing couples, legal professionals, and court staff.听听

Our transformed service offers:聽

  • 24/7 access to applications聽

  • the option to save and return, allowing people to take a break or find documents without losing progress on their application聽

  • real-time application status tracking聽

  • clear, step-by-step guidance to minimise mistakes聽

  • the ability to make a joint application under the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020聽

  • integrated financial remedy process for legal professionals to help couples agree how to manage finances聽

  • the ability to share work across teams for legal firms聽

  • streamlined payment options聽

Our digital approach is working - we鈥檝e seen digital uptake soar from 22% in 2020 to 94% in 2024.聽

Responding to new laws聽

Since the original online divorce service launched to the public in 2018 we鈥檝e responded quickly to wider changes. We relaunched the service in 2022 following the implementation of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act.听听

The service now enables joint applications for divorce, helping to reduce acrimony amongst separating couples. When planning these changes we worked with people using the service, listening to their feedback at every step to ensure the new service worked smoothly for the people that needed it.听听

Feedback from members of the public and legal professionals shows how the service has improved:聽

Crispin, Service user

The overall experience was pretty smooth鈥� everything worked as it should do. It felt like one of the more positive parts of the divorce.聽

Karen Dovaston, Solicitor

On the solicitor side, it鈥檚 efficiency. I can log in and see all my cases and see exactly what鈥檚 going on with them. It鈥檚 really efficient in terms of being able to update your clients as to what鈥檚 going on and where things are. You can download documents very easily, making your applications easily and quickly.

The knock-on effect for me and for my clients is I have a fixed fee for a divorce. I鈥檓 happy with it and it means that I can pass all those savings on to my client because I鈥檓 not then spending all the time that I would have been spending drafting paper documents, keying in information in paper documents, because the digital system just pulls it all through.

Arwel鈥檚 story聽

When Arwel and his wife Caroline decided to divorce, he wasn鈥檛 sure how to get the process underway and felt daunted. A colleague had been through the process and told him that it wasn鈥檛 as complicated as it used to be and that applying online was easy. Arwel did some research and decided to apply online. He wasn鈥檛 sure what to expect but with the online divorce service he was able to fit submitting and monitoring his application around his busy shift working pattern.聽

Arwel found using the online service surprisingly easy, there were links to useful guidance and when he needed to track down information he could save his application and return to it when he was ready. Because of his work rota Arwel found the option to check online much easier than calling a helpline. It meant he didn鈥檛 need to find somewhere private in his busy office and he could check at a time that suited him.听听聽

Overall, the digital divorce service gave Arwel peace of mind that his application was progressing. The law relating to divorce meant the process took a long time, but the service made it clear how far he鈥檇 progressed which allowed him to focus on the future.听听聽

Working Together聽

We鈥檝e worked closely with:聽

  • our divorce stakeholder group, comprising of divorce professionals across England and Wales聽

  • the judiciary听听

  • our Courts and Tribunals Service Centre in Stoke to support our users聽

Getting Support聽

We鈥檝e created a comprehensive support system to ensure no one is left behind. This includes:聽

  • a free digital support service through the We Are Group for applicants in England and Wales聽

  • modernised paper forms with simplified language and clearer instructions聽

  • dedicated support on the phone or by webchat through our Court and Tribunal Service Centre聽

Future Plans聽

We鈥檙e continuing to improve the service for all applicants and their advisers. In the future we鈥檒l:聽

  • offer online applications for interim orders (to make a general application as part of a divorce, dissolution or separation)聽

  • enable applicants to see where they are in the 20-week statutory waiting period聽

  • further enhance our notification system聽

  • introduce digital document upload capability聽

  • streamline processing of complex cases聽

  • continue to improve guidance for choosing the right application type, based on an applicant鈥檚 personal circumstances聽

Stay Updated聽

Updates to this page

Published 24 March 2025

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