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Separating couples urged to settle out of court

A FAMILY law expert has urged divorcing couples to seriously consider settling their conflicts out of court.

With divorce rates continuing to rise, Ann Pope a partner at Tees Valley practice Archers Law said that couples who use alternatives to court were much more likely to achieve swift, fair outcomes.

Her comments followed a survey from Resolution, the national family law association, which found that the overwhelming majority of people in the North East believe children should come first in divorce settlements.

Ann Pope, who is Head of Family at Archers Law and Secretary of Tees Valley Resolution, said: “The courts are already struggling to cope, and are likely to be even busier when the legal aid cuts take effect next year, with more people trying to navigate the family justice system on their own as a result.

“The system is under huge pressure, and couples who use alternatives to court are much more likely to achieve swift, fair outcomes.”

The Resolution survey found that 80% of people in the North East believed putting children’s interests first or avoiding conflict were the most important factors if going through divorce.It also found that 71% of respondents had a divorced family member and 44% assumed divorce could never be without conflict.

Despite the increasing availability of non-court alternatives, nearly half of those surveyed (46%) thought that most divorces would involve a visit to court.Mrs Pope said the survey strengthened claims that out-of-court divorce settlements prioritised the interests of children.

Resolution has prepared a guide for separating couples, which is available from Archers Law, outlining alternatives to going through divorce courts.

She added: “These findings highlight how people have good intentions to prioritise the well-being of children and to avoid conflict during separation, but this can often be derailed by a lack of knowledge of non-court based options and an exposure to the adversarial nature of courts. Something is going very wrong, and often the result is emotionally and financially drained parents, and deeply distressed children.

“However, there is another way. We’ve launched the guide because we want separating couples to know about non-confrontational alternatives to court. These methods can help prevent separation and divorce from being needlessly adversarial, and often can benefit the whole family through fairer settlements and by prioritising the interests of children.”

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