Bury StEdmunds divorce court delays

Separated for 5 years after a 23 year marriage with one teenage daughter on an apprenticeship.
Applied for decree nisi which has been transferred to the new divorce court in Bury StEdmunds, despite us living in Yorkshire.
The idea of the supercentre was that it should process about half of the UK divorce applications and reduce time for decree nisi to a week, whilst freeing up local courts for other family business.
Paperwork submitted early April, went on to the judges waiting list (a further ten weeks) beginning november.
Decree nisi taking at least 9 months as solicitors all having problems with Bury StEdmunds, which appears to be understaffed and mainly using paper systems.
Noone knows whats going on there. Emails not answered, very little tracking of paperwork etc.

Financial agreement ready.
A lot of financials (especially with pensions) go to an independant financial assessment based on needs.
Offsetting is now frowned upon as it leaves one partner property rich, cash poor.
Her solicitors wording throws all the blame on to me. You have to rise above these things, and concentrate on the actual financials.
The reasoning probably won't sway a judge too much.
Pension split approx 60/40 in her favour.
House split equally, her to remortgage to buy out my half.

What many people might not realise is that, if you move out, the family home is no longer considered to be your main residence after a few months. Any gains in equity can be subject to capital gain tax after that. Given the delays in decree nisi, this is catching a lot of people out.

So after beginning divorce paperwork in April, my solicitor says decree absolute might be achievable after about 1 year.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2021 10:52AM by Soonbefree.

>>The idea of the supercentre was that it should process about half of the UK divorce applications and reduce time for decree nisi to a week, whilst freeing up local courts for other family business.<<

Yes, and every divorce solicitor could and would have told them exactly what would happen - ie endless 'backlogs', staff with no accountability, paperwork being rejected by clerks who are not legally qualified causing further delays, paperwork being 'lost', files disappearing when being transferred to another court to hear financial matters etc, etc. There was a time when I could sometimes get decree absolute within 10 weeks of a divorce petition. Those days are long since gone thanks to so called 'supercentres' like Bury St Edmunds

Someone I know used to work for the Courts Service and she was regularly roped in to drive to Bury St Edmunds to help them out on overtime, even hiring a car for her to drive there because they were in that much of a mess. I can only assume they have gone further backwards with the pandemic.

I am also currently waiting for BSE to process my Nisi. I have been told there is a 13 week delay. I have waited 7 weeks so far. Prolonging the agony!

Any update on this. Is there anyway to escalate a application?

Update... Judgement made 14th Feb and petition rejected as place of marriage doesn't match that on the marriage certificate.
Foreign marriage.
Probably another few weeks delay whilst the solicitors submit amended paperwork.

Looking at the divorce papers submitted and the marriage certificate, I'm surprised her solicitor didn't pick up that the address quoted was general rather than the specific one required (town, region, country instead of address on certificate street, town, region).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/2022 08:49AM by Soonbefree.

Another update after a webchat with HMCTS.

Amended paperwork is now considered a new application, 16 weeks to be Judged.

The months of delay in mine was that many regional divorce centres were closed, but told to process all applications before closing.
This didn't happen, and many cases like mine fell into a black hole then swamped Bury St Edmunds.

Hopefully new applications will take 16 weeks.

>>many cases like mine fell into a black hole

Yes, many cases. It happens all too often and what is worse there is never any apology for it.

>>Hopefully new applications will take 16 weeks.

It is coming to something when that is the best one can hope for. Before the days of 'divorce units' I could often get decree absolute within 10 weeks of issuing a divorce petition. Those were the days when you could actually choose an efficient court and speak to some named person.

A final update from me .
The issue with the foreign place of marriage was sorted. The judge only required the town rather than any actual street.
The zhydias agreement worked well - we decided to split assets before the decree nisi was approved so my ex could remortgage and Bury StEdmunds were taking too long -my ex remortgaged before interest rates went up and all non-pension assets were split as proposed.
The Decree Absolute was granted last November, and the pension companies have transferred her the pension assets over now.
Overall it's been about 2 1/2years thanks to Bury St Edmunds delaying things.

I would say I've come out the other side much happier, and the solicitor has certainly made a pretty penny from all the extra letters sent out
Health can suffer as you move houses, possibly having to think of new Drs and dentists.

I've got a new group of friends, healthy hobbies, and enjoy life. Somehow i've acquired a dog and a couple of horses. Strange how life turns out.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/28/2024 03:59PM by Soonbefree.

That’s good to hear. I never realised how happy I would be after my divorce and like you I have new friends, interests and enjoying life to the full.