Family Court Statistics Quarterly: January to March 2024 (2024)

1. Main Points

This publication presents statistics on activity in the family courts of England and Wales and provides figures for the latest quarter (January to March 2024). For further information and technical details please refer to the accompanying Guide to Family Court Statistics.

For feedback related to the content of this publication, please let us know at familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

2. Data Quality Issues

The rollout of reform in family courts has introduced a new data management system, Core Case Data (CCD), to collect family data. As each service area undergoes reform, existing cases stay on the legacy system FamilyMan (FM) until they are disposed or closed, while new cases are recorded on CCD with some key details copied back to FM.

Currently, family public law (FPL) is undergoing this reform process. However, not all details are copied across for FPL (such as substantive orders other than final). Initial work has recently been completed to amalgamate both FM and CCD, but additional work is required to process the data required for this bulletin. As such, several published data series have been removed from Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2022 onwards unless otherwise stated:

• The total number of public law disposals (Table 2)

• The number of orders granted and children involved in orders granted by order type (Table 4)

• The number of public law cases started indicated as High Court (Table 7) from Q3 (Jul-Sept) 2022

• Care and supervision proceedings timeliness (Table 8)

• Overall public law timeliness (Table 10)

• The number of placement order applications from Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022 (Table 18). As a result, the total number of cases started and the total number of applications under the Adoption and Children Act 2002 are not provided

• The total number of adoption cases disposed are not provided.

It is intended that these series will be reinstated in a future release of Family Court Statistics Quarterly (FCSQ).

Data for divorce hearings for Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2022 onwards (Table 13) also cannot be maintained due to the capability of collecting the hearings data for new divorce law not yet being available and the limited reasons for contesting a divorce case within the new law.

Judicial Separations has been removed from Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2023 (Table 12) due to issues with separately identifying the cases on CCD.

During January to March 2024 there were fewer cases starting than in the same period a year earlier, driven mainly by matrimonial matters, and the number of cases disposed for matrimonial matters and Children Act (both public and private law) also decreased during this period.

In the latest quarter, time to first disposal for adoption and private law cases decreased compared to the equivalent period last year, whilst the time taken for divorce and financial remedy cases increased.

There were a record number of probate grants issued by the Probate Service in January to March 2024 (70,520). The average time for all grant types from application submission to grant issue stands at around 13 weeks in the same period.

In January to March 2024, there were record numbers of applications seen in the Office of the Public Guardian and for Deprivation of Liberty for adults made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

4. Overview of the Family Justice System

During January to March 2024, there were decreases in several case types compared to the same quarter in the previous year: matrimonial, domestic violence and public law cases; at the same time there have been increases in private law and financial remedy case starts.

Over the same period, closed cases reaching a final disposal have decreased in public law (18%), private law (8%) and matrimonial (8%) cases. However, there was an increase in domestic violence (7%) and financial remedy (6%) case disposals (Table 1).

Figure 1: Cases started and disposed, by case type, January to March 2011 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 1)

In January to March 2024, 44% of new cases (excluding adoption case starts) within family courts related to matrimonial matters, down from the equivalent quarter of 2023.

Timeliness by Case Type

The mean average time for divorce and annulment cases to reach first disposal was 41 weeks in January to March 2024 – this includes both old and new divorce cases, with the former covering applications which would have been made some time ago, and the latter incorporating a 20-week wait between application and the conditional order. For new cases alone, the mean average time was 35 weeks.

Public and private law cases – number of parties

The vast majority of private law cases involve one applicant and one respondent only (Table 6). However, for public law cases whilst nearly all cases have only one applicant, 74% involve two or more respondents.

HMCTS monthly management information

The statistics in this publication focus on the period between January to March 2024; however, monthly management information (MI) has been published by HMCTS that covers up to April 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-management-information-april-2024. This MI is subject to the data quality issues associated with extracting data from large live administrative case management systems. Late reporting of cases and regular updating of case details, which can lead to the figures being updated to manage the case - more recent figures may therefore be subject to larger revisions and should be treated with greater care and considered provisional.

5. Children Act - Public Law

Decrease in the number of public law case starts

There were 3,974 public law cases starting in January to March 2024, down 1% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023 (Table 2).

There were 6,510 individual children involved in new public law applications in January to March 2024, down 1% compared to the same quarter in the previous year, while the number of applications made decreased by 2%. In January to March 2024, care applications made up 70% of public law orders applied for (3,063) (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Public law applications by order type, January to March 2024 (Source: Table 3)

6. Children Act - Private Law

Increase in the number of private law case starts and decrease in the number of cases disposed

The number of private law cases^{[footnote 1]} started increased by 2% (to 13,500) in January to March 2024 compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023. The number of applications made increased by 1% over the same period.

The number of private law cases disposed of during January to March 2024 was down 8% on the equivalent quarter in 2023, with the number of disposals down by 10% (Table 2).

There were 14,155 new private law applications made in January to March 2024, up 1% on the equivalent quarter in 2023, with 20,935 individual children involved in these applications.

The number of private law disposals in January to March 2024 was 29,469, down 10% on the equivalent quarter in 2023.

Timeliness of Private law cases

In January to March 2024, it took on average 44 weeks for private law cases to reach a final order, i.e. case closure, down 2 weeks from the same period in 2023 (Table 9).

Figure 3: Private law timeliness from case start date to final order in the family court, January to March 2011 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 9)

7. Legal Representation

Cases with legal representation take longer on average

In general, cases where either both parties or the respondent only had legal representation took longer to be disposed of than those cases where only the applicant was represented or where both parties were without legal representation (Table 10).

Legal representation in private law cases

The removal of legal aid for many private law cases in April 2013 resulted in a change in the pattern of legal representation over time ^{[footnote 2]},^{[footnote 3]} . In January to March 2024, the proportion of disposals where neither the applicant nor respondent had legal representation was 40%, increasing by 26 percentage points since January to March 2013, and a similar level when compared to January to March 2023.

Correspondingly, the proportion of cases where both parties had legal representation went from 41% in January to March 2013 to 19% in January to March 2024, up 1 percentage point compared to the same period in 2023 (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Proportion of private law disposals by type of legal representation of the parties, January to March 2012 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 10)

The change seen in the pattern of legal representation is also demonstrated in private law cases with at least one hearing where the proportion of parties with legal representation stood at 56% in January to March 2013 compared to 29% in January to March 2024.

The proportion of parties with legal representation in cases with at least one hearing varies by case type and range from around 76% for public law cases to 4% for adoption cases, with figures subject to change as new cases progress (Table 11).

8. Divorce

There were 27,908 divorce applications made between January to March 2024 under the new legislation

New divorce legislation came into effect from 6th April 2022, which aims to reduce the potential for conflict amongst divorcing couples by:

• removing the ability to make allegations about the conduct of a spouse

• allowing couples to end their marriage jointly

Please note that the new divorce legislation introduced new terminology and new mandatory waiting periods at key stages. For further information, please see the guide that accompanies this publication.

Between January to March 2024 there were 27,908 applications made, this was a decrease of 11% from the same quarter in 2023. 74% of applications in the most recent quarter were from sole applicants and 26% from joint applicants (Table 12b).

There were 25,254 final orders granted in January to March 2024 (21,662 granted under the new divorce law whilst 3,592 decree absolutes/final orders were granted under old divorce law) down 8% compared to the same quarter in 2023 (Table 12).

Increase in the average time for all (old and new) divorce proceedings

In January to March 2024 the mean average time from application to conditional order (96% granted under the new divorce legislation) was 41 weeks up 3 weeks from the same quarter of 2023 (Table 12).

The mean average time from application to final order (86% granted under the new divorce legislation) was 68 weeks, up 4 weeks from the equivalent quarter in 2023.

Under the new law, the average time to conditional order increased by 5 weeks to 35 weeks and time to final order increased by nearly 12 weeks to 48 weeks.

Please note that, due to the mandatory waiting period between applying for divorce and applying for the conditional order (CO), this means that any new cases started since 6 April 2022 would have had to have waited at least 20 weeks before getting to the CO stage. For cases applied for under the old law, our timeliness measure will be calculating durations for those cases which represent the tail end of cases applied for some time ago, and by definition this measure will be relatively high and will increase over time until all cases applied for under the old law are dealt with.

Sole and joint divorce cases

For sole divorce cases, there were 20,769 applications made during January to March 2024 (74% of the total down 2 percentage points from the same period of 2023). The average time to conditional order for January to March 2024 was 36 weeks, and 49 weeks from application to final order.

For joint divorce cases, there were 7,139 applications made during January to March 2024 (26% of the total up 2 percentage points from the same period of 2023). The average time to conditional order for January to March 2024 was 30 weeks, and 43 weeks from application to final order.

Figure 5: Divorce applications made between Q2 2022 to Q1 2024, by applicant type (Source: Table 12b)

9. Financial Remedy

Increase seen in financial remedy disposal events with similar numbers of applications

In January to March 2024, the number of financial remedy disposal events was up 4% while applications remained similar to the same period in 2023 (Table 14).

There were 11,627 financial remedy applications made in January to March 2024 similar to the same period in 2023, while there were 11,237 financial remedy disposals events, up 4% compared with a year earlier. During the latest quarter, 71% of applications were uncontested and 29% were contested.

Figure 6: Applications for financial remedy orders, January to March 2009 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 14)

10. Domestic Violence Remedy Orders

Decrease in both the number of domestic violence remedy applications and orders made

In January to March 2024, there was an 8% decrease in applications made compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023. The number of orders made decreased 6% over the same period. The overall picture highlights a longer-term increase in the number of applications, with the number of applications in the latest quarter almost double those made since the series began in 2011 (Table 15).

In January to March 2024, there were 7,646 domestic violence remedy applications (down by 8% on the same quarter in 2023), requesting a total of 8,867 orders (multiple orders can be applied for in a single application). Most of the orders applied for were non-molestation orders (83%) compared to occupation orders (17%); these proportions have remained relatively consistent in recent years. Applications for non-molestation and occupation orders in January to March 2024 were both down, by 8% and 3% respectively, compared to the same period in 2023.

There were 9,117 domestic violence orders made in January to March 2024, down 6% from the same period last year. 94% were non-molestation orders and 6% were occupation orders, with non-molestation orders down by 6% and occupation orders up by 8% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023.

Figure 7: Applications for domestic violence remedy orders, January to March 2009 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 15)

11. Forced Marriage Protection Orders and Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders

Long term upward trend in the number of forced marriage protection orders and female genital mutilation protection orders (Table 16 and 17)

The number of applications and orders made for forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs) is very small. Consequently, numbers fluctuate each quarter but overall, there has broadly been a long-term upward trend from their introduction in November 2008 until the end of 2019 with a less pronounced increase thereafter.

In January to March 2024 there were 25 applications made, which is around half of those made in January to March 2023. Over the same period, there were 81 orders made, down 1% since the same period from the previous year.

Historically the numbers of orders made outweigh the number of applications. Often there are multiple orders granted per case, where one application covers more than one person, and an order is granted for each person covered in the application. Extensions and increased provision of previous orders can also be granted as new orders, without the need for a new application to be submitted.

An increase in the number of orders does not necessarily represent an increase in the prevalence of forced marriage, but potentially it relates to a greater awareness of forced marriage being a crime and the support available. Particularly during 2019 where the government held events with relevant groups (local authorities, police, charities etc.), designed specifically to raise awareness of FMPOs and how they can be used to protect those at risk. In 2020, health education became compulsory across all state-funded schools in England, where Relationship Education is compulsory in primary schools and Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) is compulsory in secondary schools to spread awareness of forced marriages.

Figure 8: Applications and orders made for Forced Marriage Protection Orders, January to March 2009 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 16)

As with FMPOs, the number of applications and orders made for female genital mutilation protection orders (FGMPOs) is very small, with only 14 applications and 11 orders made respectively in January to March 2024 (Table 17). In total, there have been 628 applications and 875 orders made up to end of March 2024, since their introduction in July 2015.

12. Adoptions

Decrease in the number of adoption applications and an increase in orders made, consistent with the long-term trend

During January to March 2024, there were 1,037 adoption applications made, down 5% from the equivalent quarter in 2023. Over the same period, the number of adoption orders issued increased by 2% to 1,090 (Tables 18 and 19).

There were 2,042 total disposals in January to March 2024, a decrease of 6% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023.

The chart below shows the trend of adoption orders by the type of adopter. This shows that during January to March 2024, 56% of all adoption orders were issued to mixed-sex couples, 18% to sole applicants, 16% to same-sex couples and 9% to step-parents.

Figure 9: Adoption orders issued, by adopter, January to March 2011 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 19)

13. Mental Capacity Act - Court of Protection

Increase in both applications and orders made in relation to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005

There are two figures related to deprivation of liberty. The first are those made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which cover people over 18 and are made by the Court of Protection, and the second refers to the ability of the High Court to make deprivation of liberty orders for people under 18. The figures in this section refer to the former.

There were 2,022 applications relating to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 made in the most recent quarter, which is an increase of 30% on the number made in the same quarter in 2023 to the highest level in the time series. Furthermore, there was an increase by 40% in the orders made for deprivation of liberty over the same period from 1,035 to 1,448.

A decrease in applications whilst orders increase under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA)

There were 8,525 applications made in January to March 2024, down by 5%. During the same period there were 14,679 orders made, up by 15%.

In January to March 2024, there were 8,525 applications made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), down by 5% on the equivalent quarter in 2023 (8,948 applications). Of those, 33% related to applications for appointment of a property and affairs deputy (Table 20).

In comparison, there were 14,679 orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), up by 15% on the same quarter in 2023. Of those, 36% related to orders by an existing deputy or registered attorney (Table 21).

Deprivation of Liberty applications made under the Mental Capacity Act

Since the Supreme Court clarified the definition of deprivation of liberty in 2014, there has been a significant increase in the number of applications. There were 2,022 applications in January to March 2024, the highest number in this data series. Whilst deprivation of liberty orders made saw an increase by 40% from 1,035 last year to 1,448 in the latest quarter, the overall number of orders increased by 15% over the same period.

Deprivation of Liberty applications made under the High Court

There are also deprivation of liberty applications made to the High Court, which has the power to make deprivation of liberty orders for children under the age of 18. There were 291 applications for this purpose, handling the same number of children. Almost all of these children were teenagers; 59% aged between 13 and 15 and 31% aged between 16 and 18 years (Table 22).

The number of deprivation of liberty orders have been included in this publication for the first time. In January to March 2024, 263 orders were issued, of which 128 was the final order. 33% of the orders which were finalised between January and March 2024 lasted less than 3 months, while 16% lasted over 12 months.

These are different from the deprivation of liberty applications and orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which relate to people over the age of 18.

Figure 10: Deprivation of Liberty applications and orders under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, January to March 2011 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 21)

14. Mental Capacity Act - Office of the Public Guardian

Continued increasing trend in Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)

In January to March 2024, there were 378,689 LPAs registered, the highest in its series and up 41% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2023 (Table 22).

In total there were 380,274 Powers of Attorney (POAs) registered in January to March 2024, up 40% from the same quarter in 2023 (Table 22). In January to March 2024, 56% of POAs registered were from female donors whilst 42% were from male donors and 51% were over 75 years old. Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) made up almost all POAs registered (99.6%) in January to March 2024, with Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) making up the remainder There were 1,585 EPAs registered in January to March 2024, up 7% on the equivalent quarter in 2023.

The sharp increase in LPAs seen during 2015 and 2016 was largely due to increased publicity and the new online forms introduced in July 2015 making it simpler and faster to apply. The more recent increase in LPAs is part of the trend seen of more applications being made over time as the population ages.

Figure 11: Powers of Attorney registered, January to March 2008 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 22)

15. Probate Service

Probate grants issued more quickly than other grants of representation

Probate grants took approximately 11 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted during January to March 2024. Letters of administration with a will and without a will took around 27 and 20 weeks respectively (Table 25).

Similar levels in the proportion of digital applications for probate grants with an increase in the proportion of probate grants issued made digitally

In January to March 2024, there were 62,642 applications for probate grants. 70,520 probate grants were issued in the same period, the highest recorded in the series. 91% of these applications and 93% of these grants issued were made digitally, compared to 90% of each in the same quarter in 2023 (Table 24).

There were 76,178 applications made for grants of representation in January to March 2024. 62,642 (82%) of these were for probate grants, of which 91% were made digitally (Table 24).

Probate grants also make up the majority (85%) of all grants issued. In January to March 2024, 60% of the grants issued were applied for by legal professionals and 40% were personal applications (Table 24). For the 70,520 probate grants issued in the same period, 93% were issued digitally.

Timeliness of probate grants

The mean average time from application submission to grant issue for probate grants was 11 weeks (median average 8 weeks) overall. While the median reflects the typical experience, the mean also reflects the impact of the oldest cases. Whilst the mean average time for the majority of grants (digital probate grants for applications not stopped, which formed 69% of total probate grants issued) took nearly 8 weeks from application submission to grant issue and 6 weeks from document receipt to grant issue.

Timeliness of grants issued can be affected if the case has been ‘stopped’ for any reason (which can occur when there’s a dispute about either who can apply for probate or issues with a will or proposed will, or if an error is identified and a request for further information made). Probate grants that were stopped during January to March 2024 took 21 weeks on average to be issued, compared to 8 weeks for those that were not stopped.

When looking at the time from document receipt (i.e. when payment has been made and the application and all accompanying documents are ready for examination) to grant issue, this is around 2 weeks quicker than the average time from application submission for probate grants.

Averages for letters of administration with a will and without a will were 27 and 20 weeks respectively for January to March 2024, though these formed a smaller proportion of all grants issued, 3% and 12% respectively (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Average (mean) time for grants of representation issued from application submission by the Probate Service, July to September 2019 to January to March 2024 (Source: Table 25)

16. Further information

The data presented in this publication are from live administrative databases. Therefore, previously published data is liable to be updated in the latest bulletin, following any further data cleaning or the incorporation of additional cases not available in the extracts used to produce previous bulletins.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

• A technical guide providing further information on how the data is collected and processed, as well as information on the revisions policy and legislation relevant to family court and background on the functioning of the family justice system

• A set of overview tables and CSV files, covering each section of this bulletin

Accredited official statistics status

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in January 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for accredited official statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. Accredited official statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:

Tel: 0203 334 3536

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed:

Rita Kumi-Ampofo, Head of Access to Justice Data and Statistics, using the following email address

familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 26 September 2024

URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly

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