Family Law Reform 2025
What’s Changed?
In 2025, England’s family law system underwent major reforms aimed at making legal processes more transparent, less adversarial, and better suited to modern family life. These changes affect divorce, financial settlements, child arrangements, cohabiting couples, and access to justice.
No-Fault Divorce
Introduced in April 2022, no-fault divorce is now the only way to divorce in England & Wales. Couples can divorce without assigning blame. Many are choosing the “One Couple, One Lawyer” model, where a single solicitor helps both parties reach agreement. This reduces conflict, lowers costs, and encourages amicable solutions.
Financial Settlements Courts now require early financial disclosure, especially for cases under £250,000. This is intended to speed up proceedings and reduce disputes over assets like pensions and property. Spousal maintenance terms are more predictable, and pre- and post-nuptial agreements carry greater legal weight, though they are not binding on the financial proceedings and a judge can still make a different order to what the parties agreed. Enforcement of financial orders has also been streamlined.
Child Arrangements
Child proceedings have been redesigned to prioritise child welfare over parental disputes. Hearings are intended to be less adversarial, and there is greater emphasis on safeguarding and emotional stability.
Cohabiting Couples
With millions of couples living together without marrying, and with the still misguided belief that there is such a thing as a ‘common law spouse’, the law now offers clearer protections.
These include financial support rights for long-term partners, clearer property ownership rules, and stronger parental rights for unmarried parents.
Non-Court Dispute Resolution
To reduce court backlogs, parties are expected to try mediation, collaborative law, or private dispute resolution before going to court. Cost penalties may apply if these options are ignored. The difference between mediation and collaborative law is that the latter allows solicitors to attend meetings. In short, it’s a bit more like court without the court (and judge) and your solicitor can assist you with your negotiations.
Digital Courts and Transparency
Remote hearings are now common for procedural matters, improving access for people with mobility or childcare challenges. The Covid pandemic was definitely instrumental in showing the courts that remote hearings could be just as effective as in person hearings. The courts can still instruct parties to attend in person hearings if it believes that is the better option.
Transparency pilots allow accredited journalists to report on family cases, with strict anonymity protections. Anonymised judgments are published more routinely, intended to help build public confidence in the family law system.
Why do these things matter?
These reforms reflect a shift from adversarial litigation to collaborative resolution, from rigid definitions of family to inclusive recognition, and from opaque courtrooms to open justice.
Understanding these changes helps individuals make informed decisions during family transitions.
Of course, these collaborative changes won’t work for everyone, and ultimately court will still be needed to resolve some of the issues.
We can help with that: contact us.