From paper to digital: bringing more peace of mind to separating couples
Until 2018, the process was entirely paper-based, meaning:
The service needed modernisation to better serve both the public and legal professionals during what is often an emotionally challenging time.
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:
The transformation journey began in 2016 with comprehensive user research to understand the challenges faced by divorcing couples, legal professionals, and court staff.
Our transformed service offers:
Our digital approach is working - we’ve seen digital uptake soar from 22% in 2020 to 94% in 2024.
Since the original online divorce service launched to the public in 2018 we’ve responded quickly to wider changes. We relaunched the service in 2022 following the implementation of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act.
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.
Feedback from members of the public and legal professionals shows how the service has improved:
The overall experience was pretty smooth… everything worked as it should do. It felt like one of the more positive parts of the divorce.
On the solicitor side, it’s efficiency. I can log in and see all my cases and see exactly what’s going on with them. It’s really efficient in terms of being able to update your clients as to what’s 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’m happy with it and it means that I can pass all those savings on to my client because I’m 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.
When Arwel and his wife Caroline decided to divorce, he wasn’t sure how to get the process underway and felt daunted. A colleague had been through the process and told him that it wasn’t as complicated as it used to be and that applying online was easy. Arwel did some research and decided to apply online. He wasn’t 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.
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’t need to find somewhere private in his busy office and he could check at a time that suited him.
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’d progressed which allowed him to focus on the future.
We’ve worked closely with:
We’ve created a comprehensive support system to ensure no one is left behind. This includes:
We’re continuing to improve the service for all applicants and their advisers. In the future we’ll:
