Navigating the divorce process is never necessarily easy, regardless of the state of the marriage – amicable or otherwise – which is being brought to an end.
The same is true even if matters of state are allegedly to blame for the collapse of a relationship.
Earlier this year, the newspaper columnist Sarah Vine published her memoirs, outlining in detail how politics had played a considerable part in the demise of her marriage to the now ennobled former government minister Michael Gove.
In publicity for the book, ‘How Not To Be A Political Wife’, Ms Vine talked about her divorce from Lord Gove (https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/how-not-to-be-a-political-wife-sarah-vine?variant=55102283088251).
So far, so very candid.
However, she has now admitted that, despite announcing that they were “finalising” the terms of their split in July 2021 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-57699096), the couple are still legally married.
If that seems a long time, Ms Vine reportedly explained at a literary festival that: “We got bored” (https://www.thetimes.com/article/c97d8df6-a162-4f16-b16d-747557734193?shareToken=f93888b09883ad772f86960ad0122bda).
“There are an awful lot of forms”, she continued, before adding that the divorce was “not really quite finalised and probably never will be”.
Some individuals may have some sympathy for Ms Vine.
After all, the latest figures from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) demonstrate that divorce does indeed take quite long (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2025/family-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2025).
Divorces which were finalised between April and June this year took, in fact, 69 weeks on average to conclude.
I should point out that a key element of that near 16-month period is accounted for by a so-called ‘cooling-off’ period which was written into the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020 before it came into force in April 2022 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2020/11/contents).
The intention was to give people who submitted applications to end their marriages a chance to reflect about whether they really wanted to do so before applying for the first of two necessary orders – the Conditional Order – formally bringing their relationship to a close.
Even so, it is certainly not the case that every divorce takes as long as the MoJ’s average.
It is also worth bearing in mind that the mechanics of a break-up do not have to pause completely during the 20 weeks that the administrative process is on hold.
During that time, substantial and successful groundwork can be invested in agreeing the details by which spouses untangle their finances.
Again, I feel that it’s necessary to point out that it doesn’t just have to be done by navigating one’s way through the schedules of already busy family courts.
There are some couples who are able to agree how it should be done between themselves, bringing the outcome of their deliberations to a family lawyer like myself who can offer advice on the specifics and incorporate that agreement into a consent order for approval by a court.
Couples who are not able to reach agreement in this way, though, are increasingly opting for what is known as a ‘private Financial Dispute Resolution’ or FDR, for short.
Now, FDR is an essential stage in divorces routed through the courts but can take at least nine months to happen after a financial application has been submitted.
Such delays can be not only time-consuming but costly and can also add stress and tensions between would-be former spouses.
A private FDR is not only much faster – realistically taking half the time of the court-based process – but is much more flexible.
After couples make the “full and frank disclosure” of their respective finances as required by law, they can agree to engage someone – normally, an experienced family law barrister – to take charge of the private FDR during which both parties have separate legal representation.
Negotiations take place throughout the day, with the individual overseeing the session helping those involved reach agreement by giving indications on what they consider would be a reasonable outcome.
All that can take place at the same time as a case being lodged in the court system as an option in reserve but those proceedings can be put on hold to allow the private FDR to take place.
Once a settlement is completed, the details are presented to court for the consent order to be made.
There is a cost attached to a private FDR but, as many of Hall Brown’s clients have discovered, it actually represents a saving compared to the much longer court process.
It may be paperwork rather than process which has prevented Sarah Vine and Michael Gove from being legally parted four years after stating their intention to do so but there is no reason why people who feel more compelled to go their separate ways should also regard divorce as a never ending exercise.
