The current court fee for starting a divorce is £410. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced it was going to increase the fee to £750 and invited representations. There were a lot of representations opposing the increase. Various arguments against an increase were advanced, including the fact that a divorce actually costs the court system only about £270.

The MoJ decided not to proceed with the increase.

Leaving the fee at £410 is better than increasing it to £750, but it can hardly be fair that every divorce means a compulsory contribution of £140 to public funds.