The divorce courts in England and Wales are operating as normal as possible as they are deemed as an ‘essential service’.
Yes, they have staff working from home, just as we do, but this does not mean that the court system has stopped for divorce proceedings.
If you are able to file for divorce whilst this pandemic is happening, you may find that your case won’t be affected as much as it will be once it is over.
How is this the case?
From all accounts, there is set to be a divorce filing boom once Coronavirus has eased and the country is back to some kind of normal due to pent up demand.
When this spike happens, the Court Service will probably be overwhelmed with the sudden demand, and therefore a big back-log of work will be the result. This could mean that your divorce papers don’t get reviewed for months while they play catch up.
As of now, the courts are receiving less divorce applications than they were before the COVID-19 emergency , so when staff numbers return to normal, your case will already be in the system.