Rising Court Fees May Create “Justice Gap”


Across the length and breadth of the UK, the government has been rolling out a series of price hikes on basic services that have already begun to have impact on citizens. Court fees have not escaped notice, and are set to rise by a significant amount, though the actual amounts will vary depending on the type of matter being contested.

While the increases are steep, they still have fallen well short of the government’s originally intended increase of 80%, which would have seen the fee for a divorce rise to £750 before any other costs such as solicitors fees and awarded amounts are considered.

Even so, the price has risen by £140 to make a total of £550, which will come as a nasty shock to low income-earning workers who have already been stripped of access to Legal Aid in the vast majority of divorce and family law matters, among other types of court proceedings.

It is a move that has been harshly criticised by legal experts. Among the many problems that can be foreseen with the price increases is the particularly obvious one that the marriages most likely to break down are those where there is significant financial strain, as documented in this article from Psychology Today. WorkingPoorAmerica also nailed the issue with this opinion piece (while it is written from an American perspective, the principles apply anywhere, including in the UK).

Financial strain, obviously, is more likely in low-income families, and so they could potentially be the most affected by the fee increases, with experts such as Frances Gibb (Legal Editor for The Times) opining that people could be trapped in loveless or even abusive marriages because they simply can’t afford the cost of divorce.

Ironically, even though financial strain is a leading cause of divorce, many people are likely to find themselves much worse off during and after divorce because it is expensive in more ways than just the cost alone. Becoming single results in increased personal living expenses and there are also usually significant demands on your time.

According to a BBC report, the Ministry of Justice has announced that these fee increases are intended to ensure the rich pay more rather than the vulnerable, but if you really think about it, how is that any more fair? And how can the law discriminate? And how can it be certain that the vulnerable will not suffer?

The answer appears to be that they are relying on the remission scheme, which waives fees for some low-income earners. This will be a source of confusion for many, as not everyone knows that remissions are available or how to apply for them.

Under the current rules, if you have more than £3,000 of disposable capital, you cannot apply for remission of fees less than £1,000 unless you are over 60 years of age (in which case the disposable capital limit is raised to £16,000).

If you are not in a couple (outside of the marriage you are divorcing from) and have no children, and if your earnings are below £1,910 per month, you would possibly be eligible for full remission on the current court fee for divorce. It must be assumed that the MoJ announcement indicates that the amount of remission will be raised so that the amount of earnings will stay the same in order to claim the maximum remission, but like all such announcements it should be taken with a grain of salt until we actually see what happens in practice.

The means test against earnings is affected if you have children or if you enter into a new relationship with somebody else prior to the conclusion of the court proceedings for which you hope to claim fee remissions.

There are some people that are in between being so rich that they would not even notice the court fee and those who qualify for remissions, and it is these people caught in the middle who stand to be the most harshly treated. Perhaps coincidentally, this is also the largest group, which is why the government expects to raise £60 million from the initial round of price hikes, with further increases expected in the near future which may fetch an additional £48 million for a total of approximately £108 million.

One of the concerns now being raised by prominent judges and legal experts, including the nation’s highest ranked judge, the Lord Chief Justice Thomas of Cymgiedd, have warned there is a danger of creating a “justice gap”, where some members of the community – perhaps a majority – will not have equal access to legal services.

Lord Thomas said that the scale of court fees is “putting justice out of people’s reach”. Here at Hylton-Potts, we are concerned about the situation that is unfolding, and how that may affect our clients. We see part of our mission as bridging the justice gap to ensure that any client will have the same high quality assistance regardless of how much wealth they have, which is why we are not following the lead of others and increasing our own fees in line with the rising court costs. In fact, we are determined to keep our fees affordable and ensure that our clients will not be disadvantaged. Indeed, we hope we can lead a new trend against fee increases for others to follow!

When you need legal help, Hylton-Potts offers a very wide range of services at very reasonable cost. Most of our services are provided internally, but when there are special needs we also handle referrals to specialist experts who can give you whatever additional help is required, and all of this is covered under our very simple fee structure, where you always know exactly what the cost will be right from the first day.

This is how we like to do business. No surprises, no guesswork – just plain, simple fees that everyone can understand. If you need assistance, just call us on 020 7381 8111 or send an email to [email protected] and we will be most happy to discuss with you how we can be of service.

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