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Almost two in five UK adults would be prepared to pay more to resolve family disputes privately if doing so resulted in a faster service or shorter waiting time, new research commissioned by Mills & Reeve suggests.
A survey of 1,000 UK adults found that 38.9% would pay a premium for private financial dispute resolution to obtain a quicker resolution. Some 21% said they would pay up to £250 more, while a further 15% would pay up to £500.
The research also found that 42% of respondents were already paying for one or more private services to resolve family law disputes outside the traditional court system.
However, awareness of private family law options remained relatively low, with only 25% of respondents saying they were aware that alternatives to the court system were available.
More than half of those surveyed (51%) agreed that people should be allowed to pay privately for a faster resolution of legal disputes. Some 13.8% identified reducing stress as a key motivation for paying for a faster resolution.
Mills & Reeve said the findings indicated a gap between public demand for quicker dispute resolution and awareness of the private options available to people involved in family disputes.
Katherine Kennedy, partner at Mills & Reeve, said private financial dispute resolutions (FDRs) and early neutral evaluations (ENEs) could allow families to avoid being constrained by court availability.
She said parties could choose an experienced evaluator, agree a suitable timetable and dedicate time to resolving the issues involved rather than waiting for a court hearing.
Partner Matthew Heyworth said the research showed that people were increasingly recognising the value of certainty, efficiency and timely decision-making, with many prepared to invest in solutions intended to reduce delays and uncertainty.
The research was conducted by Censuswide between 25 and 29 June 2026 among 1,000 nationally representative UK consumers.
The findings are based on respondents’ reported views and experiences and do not establish the proportion of family-law cases in which private dispute resolution would be suitable or result in a faster outcome.
