Hartnell Chanot: Divorce/Family Law Solicitors Exeter, Devon

Collaborative Divorces may be fast-tracked within a day at Court

Last Updated (Friday, 07 November 2008 11:04) Friday, 07 November 2008 00:00

Couples who split up will be allowed to jump the queue in court if they can agree the terms of a separation or divorce, a senior Family judge has promised.

Mr Justice Coleridge made the announcement at a reception to mark the fifth anniversary in England of collaborative family law, a non-confrontational approach to matrimonial disputes.

Settlements are reached in four-way, face-to-face talks between the two parties and their two lawyers. If there is no agreement, other lawyers have to be instructed for court proceedings - at further expense to the parties.

At present, a consent order is approved by the court once the couple have agreed terms. But this process can take three or four months.

At the reception, Mr Justice Coleridge announced that such orders could now be approved within a couple of days. He took the unusual step of reading out a judgment in which he had previously ruled that collaborative law agreements could be brought before the duty judge assigned to hear the day's urgent cases. Provided every aspect of the case had been agreed and the hearing would last no more than 10 minutes, all that was needed was a day's notice to the court and a chance for the judge to read the papers overnight.

"I think every conceivable encouragement should be given to parties to negotiate by this method," the judge said. He was sure that the prospect of having court documentation speedily finalised would be an incentive for couples to "knuckle down and negotiate to an agreed conclusion".

Collaborative law has taken off since the first few family lawyers completed their training in 2003. There are now 1,250 collaborative lawyers in England, including more than 5 at our offices in Exeter. They promise couples a "good" divorce that is confidential, dignified and civilised - though they admit that the acrimonious split between Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills received greater publicity than the collaborative divorce of the actor Robin Williams.

Mr Justice Coleridge disclosed that the fast-track initiative came about after an un-named couple had asked for their settlement to be approved urgently because one of them was about to move to the United States with their children.

At first, said the judge, he thought the application rather cheeky. However, the judge continued, "I am, as is well known, a pussycat and agreed to hear the application for approval as the first in the list on the following day." On further reflection, the judge thought that queue-jumping should be encouraged in appropriate case. He said his ruling had now been approved by the president of the High Court Family Division, Sir Mark Potter.

Welcoming the announcement was Emma Benyon-Tinker a collaborative lawyer at Hartnell Chanot & Partners. Emma has approached Exeter Court, Torquay and Newton Abbot Court, Taunton Court, Plymouth Court and Barnstaple court to confirm that this fast tracked process in collaborative cases can now be used in the local Court.