Call to separate divorce processes from money disputes

'It is refreshing and overdue to know that the judiciary is looking more closely at just how much "legal" input is actually needed when a couple divorces.

The court forms that separating couples are expected to use belong to a bygone age. The arcane language that talks about "plaintiffs", "respondents" and so on is hardly fit for the late 20th century, let alone the 21st.

It’s true that, as Sir James says, divorce is largely “bureaucratic and administrative”, but this is often the starting point for sending divorcing couples down the legal route, which almost always comes at huge personal cost.Couples separate. It’s always been that way. But it’s high time to start demystifying the processes involved so we can help people help themselves through the divorce maze.

That’s what family mediators have been doing for years. Mediation empowers people to take charge of their affairs and feel in control of the decisions that need to be made, whereas the legal route fosters the sense of helplessness that often accompanies the emotional turmoil of a divorce.'