Family mediation statistics: what the latest data shows
Key facts
- Divorce is completing faster: final orders rose 24% in January to March 2026, and the average time to a final order fell by 7 weeks.
- Disputes over children are climbing: private law case starts rose 16%, with nearly 30,000 new orders applied for in the quarter.
- Joint divorce applications reach a final order around 10 weeks sooner than sole applications.
- Family courts are getting faster, private law cases now take 35 weeks on average, down from 40 a year earlier, yet the open caseload still rose 11%.
- Nearly half of parents now go to court without a solicitor: in 49% of private law disposals, neither side had legal representation.
The Ministry of Justice publishes family court figures every quarter, and the January to March 2026 release tells a clear story. More families are turning to the courts over children, divorces are completing faster than a year ago, and a growing share of people are going through it all without a solicitor. This page pulls the headline numbers together, explains what they mean, and shows where family mediation fits. It is written for anyone weighing up their options, and for journalists and researchers who need the figures with a source attached.
Three forces are pulling in different directions at once. Demand on the family courts is rising, particularly over children. At the same time the courts are clearing work faster than they were a year ago. And the money side of separation, the dividing of property and pensions, is growing busier even as the number of divorces slips. Read together, they make a strong case for resolving as much as possible by agreement, before a case ever reaches a courtroom.
Every figure below is dated and sourced. For how we handle data, see our statistics methodology. For the wider picture of mediation, start with our guide to family mediation.
Five key family court trends in early 2026
If you read nothing else, these are the five shifts that stand out in the latest data.
| # | Trend | The headline number |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Divorce is completing faster | Final orders up 24%; time to final order down 7 weeks |
| 2 | Joint divorces finish sooner | Joint applications reach a final order about 10 weeks quicker than sole ones |
| 3 | More couples are formalising finances | Financial remedy applications up 11% |
| 4 | Disputes over children are rising | Private law case starts up 16%, nearly 30,000 orders applied for |
| 5 | Fewer parents have a solicitor | 49% of private law disposals had no legal representation on either side |
The biggest changes this quarter
Set side by side, the direction of travel is easy to see. These are the year-on-year changes for January to March 2026 compared with the same quarter in 2025.
| Measure | Change on a year earlier |
|---|---|
| Final divorce orders granted | Up 24% |
| Financial remedy applications | Up 11% |
| Private law children case starts | Up 16% |
| Open private law caseload | Up 11% |
| Divorce applications | Down 5% |
| Average time to a final divorce order | Down 7 weeks |
Divorce is completing faster
The clearest positive story is speed. There were 28,632 divorce applications in January to March 2026, down 5% on the same quarter in 2025. But 27,320 final orders were granted, up 24% year on year, and the time it takes to get through the process fell across the board.
| Divorce timeliness (Jan to Mar 2026) | Time | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Mean, application to conditional order | 39 weeks | Down 3 weeks |
| Mean, application to final order | 67 weeks | Down 7 weeks |
| Median, application to final order | 39 weeks | – |
The courts appear to be clearing the backlog that built up after no-fault divorce arrived in April 2022. Mean times are still lifted by a dwindling tail of older cases, which is why the median, at 39 weeks to a final order, is a better guide to how long a typical divorce now takes. Either way, the trend is firmly downwards. You can read the fuller picture on our divorce statistics page.
Why the 20-week wait matters
Under the 2022 law, no divorce can move to a conditional order until at least 20 weeks after applying. So part of the 39-week median simply reflects the built-in waiting periods, not court delay. The divorce ends the marriage; it does not settle money, which is handled separately, often through mediation and a consent order.
Joint divorces finish about ten weeks sooner
One of the most striking findings sits inside the divorce data. Couples who apply jointly, rather than one person applying against the other, reach a final order noticeably faster.
| Application type | Applications (Jan to Mar 2026) | Average time to final order |
|---|---|---|
| Sole | 20,673 (72%) | 58 weeks |
| Joint | 7,959 (28%) | 48 weeks |
That is roughly ten weeks quicker for joint applicants. Joint applications are also growing as a share of the total. It is a small but telling signal: couples who start out cooperating tend to get through the process faster. The same logic runs through family mediation, which is built around reaching agreement together rather than fighting it out. It is why a cooperative, non-court route so often ends up quicker and cheaper than a contested one.
Financial disputes are rising even as divorces dip
Divorce applications fell, but the work of dividing money did not. Financial remedy applications, the court process for sorting out property, pensions and income, rose in the same quarter.
| Financial remedy (Jan to Mar 2026) | Figure | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Applications | 12,646 | Up 11% |
| Disposal events | 12,764 | Up 12% |
| Uncontested share | 73% | – |
| Contested share | 27% | – |
More couples are formalising their finances even as the number of divorces edges down, and nearly three quarters of applications are uncontested. That points to people reaching agreement and then asking the court to rubber-stamp it, exactly what a consent order does. Mediation is a common route to that agreement, recorded in an open financial statement and a Memorandum of Understanding, then turned into a binding order. For the forms involved, see our guides to Form A and the D81 statement of information.
Disputes over children are climbing sharply
The biggest family court story this quarter is children. Private law cases, the disputes between parents about arrangements for their children, jumped again.
| Private law children (Jan to Mar 2026) | Figure | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Cases started | 15,534 | Up 16% |
| New orders applied for | 29,793 | Up 15% |
| Children involved in applications | 22,928 | – |
| Orders made | 27,663 | Down 4% |
Nearly 30,000 new orders were applied for in a single quarter, involving almost 23,000 children. That is a sharp rise in parents turning to the court to resolve where children live and how time is shared. Most of these cases must begin with a MIAM, and many could be resolved without a hearing at all. Our guides to child arrangements through mediation, parenting plans and the C100 application explain the alternatives to a contested court case.
It is worth putting the scale in context. Nearly 23,000 children were named in applications in a single quarter, and orders were still made in the large majority of cases. But an order imposed by a judge is rarely as durable as an arrangement the parents build themselves, which is why the courts increasingly expect families to have tried mediation first. A parenting plan agreed in mediation can cover the same ground as a court order, without the wait or the cost.
Courts are getting faster, but the backlog is still growing
Despite that rising demand, the courts sped up. In January to March 2026 the average private law case took 35 weeks to reach a disposal, down five weeks from a year earlier, and 52% of cases were dealt with within 26 weeks, up seven percentage points.
The catch is volume. For the first time, the data includes the open caseload, and it shows 40,971 private law cases still open at the end of March 2026, up 11% on a year earlier. Most, 57%, had been open for under 26 weeks, but 1,692 cases, around 4%, had been running for 100 weeks or more. In short, the courts are processing cases more efficiently, but demand is climbing even faster. See our family court delays page for the longer trend, and our comparison of mediation versus court for how the timescales differ.
Since 29 April 2024, changes to the Family Procedure Rules let the family court adjourn a case so the parties can try non-court dispute resolution, and allow a judge to weigh an unreasonable refusal to try it when deciding costs. With demand rising and the caseload growing, that push towards mediation and other non-court routes is only likely to strengthen.
Nearly half of parents now go to court without a solicitor
Perhaps the most quoted figure is on legal representation. In 49% of private law disposals in January to March 2026, neither the applicant nor the respondent had a solicitor, up three percentage points on the year. In just 13% of cases did both sides have representation.
This is the long shadow of the 2013 legal aid changes under LASPO, which removed public funding from most private family cases while keeping it for mediation. With so many people now representing themselves, the value of an affordable, guided route is clear. Legal aid still covers the MIAM and mediation for those who qualify, and the £500 voucher scheme helps many more. See our legal aid and mediation data for the detail.
A fair reading of the numbers
The data also shows that cases where the parties have solicitors tend to take longer to resolve. That is not because lawyers cause delay; represented cases are usually the more complex and contested ones. It is an important distinction, and a reminder that the figures describe the cases, not the quality of advice.
How mediation changes the picture
The court figures describe what happens when families cannot agree. The mediation figures show what happens when they try to. In the Ministry of Justice’s analysis of the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme, 77% of families reached a whole or partial agreement, and 69% either avoided court altogether or went only to approve a consent order. Against a rising private law caseload and average waits of 35 weeks, that is a powerful contrast.
| Route | Typical time | Typical cost per person |
|---|---|---|
| Contested private law court case | Around 35 weeks to a disposal | Several thousand pounds with a solicitor |
| Family mediation | A few sessions over weeks | Around £138 for a MIAM, £216 per session, often cut by the £500 voucher |
The gap in both time and cost is the core of the case for mediation, and it maps neatly onto what the latest data shows: joint, cooperative approaches finish faster, most financial settlements are uncontested, and half of parents are already managing without a solicitor. For a fuller breakdown see our pages on mediation success rates and the cost of divorce.
What the data means if you are separating
Behind the numbers is a consistent message. Cooperative routes finish faster, more couples are formalising their finances by agreement, and a rising number of parents are handling disputes over children without a lawyer. Family mediation sits at the centre of all three: it is built around agreement, it produces the documents a court needs for a consent order, and it gives people without a solicitor a structured, affordable way through.
If you are starting out, the natural first step is a MIAM, where a mediator explains your options and checks whether mediation is right for you. From there, our guides to child arrangements and financial mediation set out what to expect. None of this replaces advice on your own situation from a solicitor or an accredited mediator, but it should help you see where you fit in the wider picture, and why so many families now resolve things without a hearing.
Frequently asked questions
How many divorces are happening in England and Wales?
There were 28,632 divorce applications in January to March 2026, down 5% on the same quarter in 2025, and 27,320 final orders were granted, up 24%.
How long does a divorce take now?
In January to March 2026 the median time from application to a final order was 39 weeks, and the mean was 67 weeks, down 7 weeks on the year. Part of that time is the mandatory 20-week wait built into no-fault divorce.
Are more parents going to court over children?
Yes. Private law children case starts rose 16% in January to March 2026, with nearly 30,000 new orders applied for, involving almost 23,000 children.
How long do children cases take in the family court?
On average 35 weeks to a disposal in January to March 2026, down five weeks on the year, with 52% of cases resolved within 26 weeks.
How many people go to family court without a solicitor?
In 49% of private law disposals in early 2026, neither side had legal representation, up three percentage points on the year, a legacy of the 2013 legal aid changes.
Sources
- Ministry of Justice, Family Court Statistics Quarterly: January to March 2026, gov.uk. Accessed 9 July 2026.
- Ministry of Justice, Family Mediation Voucher Scheme analysis, gov.uk. Accessed 9 July 2026.
- Office for National Statistics, Divorces in England and Wales, ons.gov.uk. Accessed 9 July 2026.