At 4pm on 31 March HMCTS will be closing the MyHMCTS portal for one week. This is to allow the portal to be amended to support the new no fault divorce system which takes effect from 6 April. Paper applications will also not be accepted. Applications that are urgent due to jurisdictional issues or a need to protect assets will still be issued.

Many couples have been waiting for the introduction of the no fault system to commence proceedings, and there will be the inevitable backlog of cases whilst the system is "dark". It would also seem reasonable to assume that there will be some teething issues in implementing such a radical and systematic change, so delays in processing new and existing cases seems inevitable. 

Whilst these issues may cause some headaches, this must be suffering for the greater good. Our legal system has been significantly behind the curve in preventing unnecessary animosity between separating couples and these changes will ensure that. A detailed explanation of how the new regime will work can be found here; and the family team at Stevens & Bolton can assist with any specific queries.