This month is one of the peak times of year for divorce but while starting the divorce process can be done online, there is still a long way to go before full digital divorce becomes a reality.
Nonetheless The Ministry of Justice has committed itself to reducing the stress individuals encounter during divorce proceedings as well of the length of time divorces take. The aim is to put as much as possible online yet there is still no date set for the launch of a full digital divorce service online.
The preferred approach is to introduce processes stage by stage starting with the divorce petition. The prospect of the full digital divorce could revolutionise this aspect of family law and bring this area of law into line with other legal processes that can now be done online.
One of the difficulties likely to be encountered with a full digital divorce is being able to introduce a process that is fair to both parties in a divorce. The nature of human relationships means that there will be difficulties in developing processes that will provide the same level of protection for those involved as would be the case offline.