National statistics

Family Court Statistics Quarterly: October to December 2023

Published 28 March 2024

1. Main Points

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There were 23,517 divorce applications under the new legislation this quarter	New divorce legislation came into effect from 6th April 2022. Between October to December 2023 there were 23,517 applications made (75% from sole applicants, 25% from joint applicants), including those for dissolution of civil partnerships Annually, there were 110,770 divorce applications filed and 103,501 final orders granted throughout 2023, down 9% and up 29% respectively compared to 2022.
Decrease in both domestic violence remedy applications and orders made.	The number of domestic violence remedy order applications decreased by 6% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2022, while the number of orders made decreased by 8% over the same period. There were 31,604 applications and 36,584 orders made throughout 2023, down 1% and 5% respectively from 2022.
Adoption applications increase while the number of orders decrease	In October to December 2023 there were 1,115 adoption applications, up 15% on the equivalent quarter in 2022. However, the number of adoption orders issued decreased by 2% to 1,050. Annually, there were 4,279 applications and 4,166 orders for adoption in 2023, up 8% and 4% respectively from 2022.
Increase in deprivation of liberty applications and orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.	There were 1,569 applications under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 relating to deprivation of liberty in October to December 2023, up 5% on the equivalent quarter in 2022. Orders increased by 70% in the latest quarter compared to the same period last year. There were 6,210 applications and 5,276 orders (the highest in the series) relating to deprivation of liberty throughout 2023, similar to 2022 and up 95% respectively.
Increase in timeliness across all types of grants	Probate grants took approximately 14 weeks (mean average) to be issued after the application was submitted during October to December 2023 up just over 6 weeks on the equivalent quarter in 2023. Annually probate grants took 13 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted, an increase of over 5 weeks from 2022.

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This publication presents statistics on activity in the family courts of England and Wales and provides figures for the latest quarter (October to December 2023). Also, the bulletin provides additional commentary on annual changes between 2022 and 2023. For further information and technical details please refer to the accompanying Guide to Family Court Statistics.

For feedback related to the content of this publication, please let us know at familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

2. Data Quality Issues

The rollout of reform in family courts has introduced a new data management system, Core Case Data (CCD), to collect family data. As each service area undergoes reform, existing cases stay on the legacy system FamilyMan (FM) until they are disposed or closed, while new cases are recorded on CCD with some key details copied back to FM.

Currently, family public law (FPL) is undergoing this reform process. However, not all details are copied across for FPL (such as substantive orders other than final). Until work is completed to amalgamate both FM and CCD, several published data series cannot be maintained. These series have been removed from Q1 (Jan-Mar) 2022 onwards unless otherwise stated:

• The total number of public law disposals (Table 2)

• The number of orders granted and children involved in orders granted by order type (Table 4)

• The number of public law cases started indicated as High Court (Table 7) from Q3 (Jul-Sept) 2022

• Care and supervision proceedings timeliness (Table 8)

• Overall public law timeliness (Table 10)

• The number of Placement Order Applications from Q4 (Oct-Dec) 2022 (Table 18). As a result, the total number of cases started and the total number of applications under the Adoption and Children Act are not provided

• The total number of adoption cases disposed are not provided.

These series will be reinstated once both data sources have been combined.

Data for divorce hearings for Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2022 onwards (Table 13) also cannot be maintained due to the capability of collecting the hearings data for new divorce law not yet being available and the limited reasons for contesting a divorce case within the new law.

Judicial Separations has been removed from Q2 (Apr-Jun) 2023 (Table 12) due to issues with separately identifying the cases on CCD.

3. Statistician’s comment

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During October to December 2023, there was a reduced number of cases starting for the majority of case types compared to the equivalent period last year, whilst the number of cases disposed for matrimonial, financial remedy and domestic violence remedy orders increased during this period.

In the latest quarter, time to first disposal for almost all case types decreased or remained similar to the equivalent period last year, whilst the time taken for divorce cases under the new legislation increased.

There were a record number of applications made to the Probate Service during 2023 (over 300,000). The average time for all grant types from application submission to grant issue increased to 14 weeks in 2023, with the latest quarter taking on average 15 weeks.

There was also a record number of Lasting Power of Attorney registered applications in 2023, reaching over a million for the first time.

Orders made in the Court of Protection in 2023 reached the highest in its series (58,530), with a record number of Deprivation of Liberty orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (5,276), representing the courts efforts to increase the number of orders made and clear backlogs

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4. Overview of the Family Justice System

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During October to December 2023, there were decreases in most case types: matrimonial, domestic violence, public law and private law cases; at the same time there have been increases in financial remedy case starts. Closed cases have increased in most areas but there has been a decrease in public law and private law case disposals.

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Figure 1: Cases started and disposed, by case type, January to March 2011 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 1)

In October to December 2023, 41% of new cases (excluding adoption case starts) within family courts related to matrimonial matters, down 2% from the equivalent quarter of 2022.

There were decreases in most case type starts compared to the equivalent quarter in 2022: matrimonial (9%), domestic violence (6%), public law (3%) and private law (1%); at the same time there was an increase in financial remedy (8%) case starts. In contrast there were increases in most case types reaching a final disposal: matrimonial (34%), financial remedy (32%) and domestic violence (8%) cases. However, there was a decrease in public law (10%) and private law (6%) case disposals. (Table 1)

During 2023, there were 251,625 new cases started in Family courts excluding Adoption, down 4% from 2022.

Timeliness by Case Type

The mean average time for divorce and annulment cases to reach first disposal was 42 weeks in October to December 2023 – this includes both old and new divorce cases, with the former covering applications which would have been made some time ago, and the latter incorporating a 20-week wait between application and the conditional order. For new cases alone, the mean average time was 37 weeks.

Public and private law cases – number of parties, and High Court cases

The vast majority of private law cases involve one applicant and one respondent only (Table 6). However, for public law cases whilst nearly all cases have only one applicant, 77% involve two or more respondents.

Private law cases indicated as being a High Court case remained lower than 1%, in line with the long-term trend. In the latest quarter, a smaller proportion of private law cases started were indicated as being a High Court case (0.1%) (Table 7).

HMCTS monthly management information

The statistics in this publication focus on the period between October to December 2023; however, monthly management information (MI) has been published by HMCTS that covers up to January 2024. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/hmcts-management-information-january-2024. This MI is subject to the data quality issues associated with extracting data from large live administrative case management systems. Late reporting of cases and regular updating of case details, which can lead to the figures being updated to manage the case - more recent figures may therefore be subject to larger revisions and should be treated with greater care and considered provisional.

5. Children Act - Public Law

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Decrease in the number of public law case starts

There were 3,828 public law cases starting in October to December 2023, down 3% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2022 (Table 2).

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There were 6,389 individual children involved in new public law applications in October to December 2023, down 4% on the same quarter in the previous year, while the number of applications made decreased by 4%. In October to December 2023, public law care applications made up 67% of public law orders applied for (2,935) (Figure 2).

Looking at annual trends, there were 15,603 public law cases started in 2023, down 5% from 2022, Applications were down 6% from 2022, with 15,707 in total involving 25,672 individual children.

Figure 2 shows the most common types of public law orders applied for and made in October to December 2023, illustrating the different pattern between the types of orders applied for and the orders that are given, i.e. an application for one type can result in an order of a different type being made.

Figure 2: Public law applications and orders made, by order type, October to December 2023 (Source: Table 3)

6. Children Act - Private Law

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Decrease in the number of private law case starts and cases disposed

The number of private law cases^{[footnote 1]} started decreased by 1% (to 12,116) in October to December 2023 compared to the equivalent quarter in 2022. The number of applications made decreased by 1% over the same period.

The number of private law cases disposed of during October to December 2023 was down 6% on the equivalent quarter in 2022, with the number of disposals down by 5% (Table 2).

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There were 12,566 new private law applications made in October to December 2023, down 1% on the equivalent quarter in 2022, with 18,758 individual children involved in these applications.

The number of private law disposals in October to December 2023 was 28,462, down 5% on the equivalent quarter in 2022.

Annually, there were 50,798 private law cases started in 2023, down 3% from 2022, whilst the number of cases disposed increased by 5% over the same period to 45,257. In 2023 there was a 2% decrease in private law applications compared to 2022.

Timeliness of Private law cases

In October to December 2023, it took on average 46 weeks for private law cases to reach a final order, i.e. case closure, similar to the same period in 2022(Table 9).

Overall, it took 46 weeks on average for private law cases to reach final order during 2023, compared to 44 weeks in 2022.

Figure 3: Private law timeliness from case start date to final order in the family court, January to March 2011 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 9)

7. Legal Representation

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Cases with legal representation take longer on average

In general, cases where either both parties or the respondent only had legal representation took longer to be disposed of than those cases where only the applicant was represented or where both parties were without legal representation (Table 10).

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Legal representation in Private law cases

The removal of legal aid for many private law cases in April 2013 resulted in a change in the pattern of legal representation over time^{[footnote 2]},^{[footnote 3]}. In October to December 2023, the proportion of disposals where neither the applicant nor respondent had legal representation was 38%, increasing by 24 percentage points since January to March 2013, and down 2 percentage points from October to December 2022.

Correspondingly, the proportion of cases where both parties had legal representation went from 41% in January to March 2013 to 20% in October to December 2023, up 1 percentage point compared to the same period in 2022 (Figure 4).

For 2023 as a whole, neither the applicant nor the respondent were represented in 39% of private law cases, whilst both had legal representation in 19% of private law cases. Both percentages are unchanged from 2022.

Figure 4: Proportion of private law disposals by type of legal representation of the parties, January to March 2012 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 10)

The change seen in the pattern of legal representation is also demonstrated in private law cases with at least one hearing where the proportion of parties with legal representation stood at 59% in 2012 compared to 33% in 2023.

The proportion of parties with legal representation in cases with at least one hearing varies by case type and range from around 77% for public law cases to 3% for adoption cases in October to December 2023, with figures subject to change as new cases progress (Table 11). Across the whole of 2023 the proportions were similar to the final quarter, with a range from around 81% for public law to 4% for adoption.

8. Divorce

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There were 23,517 divorce applications made between October to December 2023 under the new legislation

New divorce legislation came into effect from 6th April 2022, which aims to reduce the potential for conflict amongst divorcing couples by:

• removing the ability to make allegations about the conduct of a spouse
• allowing couples to end their marriage jointly.

Please note that the new divorce legislation introduced new terminology and new mandatory waiting periods at key stages. For further information, please see the guide that accompanies this publication.

Between October to December 2023 there were 23,517 applications made (75% from sole applicants, 25% from joint applicants) (Table 12b). This was a decrease of 8% from the same quarter in 2022.

There were 22,890 final orders granted in October to December 2023 (18,249 granted under the new divorce law whilst 4,641 decree absolutes/final orders were granted under old divorce law) up 34% compared to the same quarter in 2022 (Table 12)

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Increase in the average time for all (old and new) divorce proceedings

In October to December 2023 the mean average time from application to conditional order (94% granted under the new divorce legislation) was 42 weeks up 4 weeks from the same quarter of 2022 (Table 12).

The mean average time from application to final order (80% granted under the new divorce legislation) was 69 weeks, up 2 weeks from the equivalent quarter in 2022.

Please note that, due to the mandatory waiting period between applying for divorce and applying for the conditional order (CO), this means that any new cases started since 6 April 2022 would have had to have waited at least 20 weeks before getting to the CO stage. For cases applied for under the old law, our timeliness measure will be calculating durations for those cases which represent the tail end of cases applied for some time ago, and by definition this measure will be relatively high and will increase over time until all cases applied for under the old law are dealt with.

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Annually, applications were down 9% in 2023 compared to 2022 and final orders were up by 29%. There were 110,770 applications under the new law in 2023 with 76% of these applications were made under a sole applicant. There were also 95,207 conditional orders and 76,937 final orders made under the new law in 2023.

Digital divorce cases

For digital divorce cases (i.e. those dealt with the Courts and Tribunals Service Centres that are digital at all stages), there were 22,256 applications made during October to December 2023 (95% of the total, similar to the same period of 2022). The average time to conditional order (91% of the total) for October to December 2023 was 35 weeks, and 51 weeks from application to final order (85% of the total).

In 2023, digital divorce cases made up 95% of applications compared to 94% in 2022. Digital divorce cases also accounted for 90% of conditional orders and 83% of final orders, from 78% and 68% the year before.

Sole and Joint divorce cases

For sole divorce cases, there were 17,710 applications made during October to December 2023 (75% of the total down 2% from the same period of 2022). The average time to conditional order for October to December 2023 was 36 weeks, and 45 weeks from application to final order.

For joint divorce cases, there were 5,807 applications made during October to December 2023 (25% of the total up 2% from the same period of 2022). The average time to conditional order for October to December 2023 was 30 weeks, and 40 weeks from application to final order.

Figure 5: Divorce applications made between Q2 2022 to Q4 2023, by applicant type (Source: Table 12b)

9. Financial Remedy

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Increase seen in financial remedy applications and disposals events

In October to December 2023, the number of financial remedy applications was up 6% and the number of disposal events was up 27% compared to the same period in 2022 (Table 14).

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There were 10,617 financial remedy applications made in October to December 2023, up 6% from the same period in 2022, while there were 9,852 financial remedy disposals events, up 27%. During this period, 69% of applications were uncontested and 31% were contested.

Across 2023 as a whole, there were 44,563 financial remedy applications, up 11% from 2022. Similarly, the number of financial remedy disposals was up 12% to 40,873.

Figure 6: Applications for financial remedy orders, January to March 2009 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 14)

10. Domestic Violence Remedy Orders

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Decrease in both the number of domestic violence remedy applications and orders made

In October to December 2023, there was a 6% decrease in applications made compared to the equivalent quarter in 2022. The number of orders made decreased by 8% over the same period. The overall picture highlights a longer-term increase in the number of applications, with the number of applications in the latest quarter almost double those made since the series began in 2011. (Table 15).

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In October to December 2023, there were 7,450 domestic violence remedy applications, down by 6% on the same quarter in 2022 requesting a total of 8,647 orders (multiple orders can be applied for in a single application). Most of the orders applied for were non-molestation orders (82%) compared to occupation orders (18%); these proportions have remained relatively consistent in recent years. Applications for non-molestation orders in October to December 2023 were down, by 7% whereas applications for occupation orders were up, by 6% respectively, compared to the same period in 2022.

There were 8,864 domestic violence orders made in October to December 2023, down 8% from the same period last year. 94% were non-molestation orders and 6% were occupation orders, with non-molestation orders down by 9% and occupation orders up by 6% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2022.

In 2023, 31,604 applications were made for domestic violence remedies, down 1% compared to 2022 requesting a total of 36,412 orders. There were 36,584 orders made, down 5% on the previous year. Non-molestation orders formed 83% of orders applied for and 94% of orders made, whilst occupation orders comprised 17% and 6% of the totals respectively.

Figure 7: Domestic violence remedy orders applied for, January to March 2009 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 15)

11. Forced Marriage Protection Orders and Female Genital Mutilation Protection Orders

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Long term upward trend in the number of forced marriage protection orders and female genital mutilation protection orders (Table 16 and 17)

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The number of applications and orders made for forced marriage protection orders (FMPOs) is very small. Consequently, numbers fluctuate each quarter but overall, there has been a long-term upward trend from their introduction in November 2008 until the end of 2019 with a less pronounced increase thereafter.

In October to December 2023, there were 73 applications, of which 79% of applications were for people aged 17 and under. Over the same period, there were 84 orders made, down 15% since the same period from the previous year.

In 2023, 287 applications were made for FMPOs, up 7% compared to 2022. There were 414 orders made, up 20% on the previous year.

An increase in the number of orders does not necessarily represent an increase in the prevalence of forced marriage, but potentially it relates to a greater awareness of forced marriage being a crime and the support available. Particularly during 2019 where the government held events with relevant groups (local authorities, police, charities etc.), designed specifically to raise awareness of FMPOs and how they can be used to protect those at risk. In 2020, health education became compulsory across all state-funded schools in England, where Relationship Education is compulsory in primary schools and Relationship and Sex Education (RES) is compulsory in secondary schools to spread awareness of forced marriages.

Historically the numbers of orders made outweigh the number of applications. Often there are multiple orders granted per case, where one application covers more than one person, and an order is granted for each person covered in the application. Extensions and increased provision of previous orders can also be granted as new orders, without the need for a new application to be submitted.

Figure 8: Applications and orders made for Forced Marriage Protection Orders, January to March 2009 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 16)

As with FMPOs, the number of applications and orders made for female genital mutilation protection orders (FGMPOs) is very small, with only 14 applications and 4 orders made respectively in October to December 2023 (Table 17). In total, there have been 614 applications and 864 orders made up to end of December 2023, since their introduction in July 2015.

12. Adoptions

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Increase in the number of adoption applications and a decrease in orders made, consistent with the long-term trend

During October to December 2023, there were 1,115 adoption applications made, up 15% from the equivalent quarter in 2022. Over the same period, the number of adoption orders issued decreased by 2% to 1,050 (Tables 18 and 19).

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During 2023 there were 4,279 adoption appplications made, up 24% from 2022. There were 4,166 adoption orders issued in 2023, up 4% compared to 2022.

There were 1,927 total disposals in October to December 2023, a decrease of 5% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2022.

The chart below shows the trend of adoption orders by the type of adopter. This shows that during October to December 2023, 57% of all adoption orders were issued to mixed-sex couples, 18% to sole applicants, 14% to same-sex couples and 10% to step-parents.

Figure 9: Adoption orders issued, by adopter, January to March 2011 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 19)

13. Mental Capacity Act - Court of Protection

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Increase in both applications and orders made in relation to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005

There are two figures related to deprivation of liberty. The first are those made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which cover people over 18 and are made by the Court of Protection, and the second refers to the ability of the High Court to make deprivation of liberty orders for people under 18. The figures in this section refer to the former.

There were 1,569 applications relating to deprivation of liberty under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 made in the most recent quarter, which is an increase of 5% on the number made in the same quarter in 2022. Furthermore, there was an increase by 70% in the orders made for deprivation of liberty over the same period from 770 to 1,311.

An increase in both applications and orders under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA)

There were 8,581 applications made in October to December 2023, up by 17%. During the same period there were 13,740 orders made, up by 13%.

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In October to December 2023, there were 8,581 applications made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), up by 17% on the equivalent quarter in 2022 (7,319 applications). Of those, 37% related to applications for appointment of a property and affairs deputy (Table 20).

In comparison, there were 13,740 orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA), up by 13% on the same quarter in 2022. Of those, 36% related to orders by an existing deputy or registered attorney (Table 21).

Annually, the total number of orders made in 2023 was up 25% compared to 2022. Applications by an existing deputy or registered attorney represented the highest proportion of orders made under the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) during 2023, totaling 37% of the 58,530 orders made throughout the year.

Deprivation of Liberty applications made under the Mental Capacity Act

Since the Supreme Court clarified the definition of deprivation of liberty in 2014, there has been a significant increase in the number of applications. There were 15 applications in January to March 2013 which increased to a high of 1,744 in July to September 2020. There were 1,569 applications in October to December 2023. Whilst deprivation of liberty orders made saw an increase by 70% from 770 last year to 1,311 in the latest quarter, higher than in previous quarters due to efforts being made by the courts to increase the number of orders made and clear backlogs.

Annually, the total number of applications in 2023 was 6,210 which is similar to the 6,265 deprivation of liberty applications in 2022 and a slight fall from the peak of 6,286 applications made in 2021. Deprivation of liberty orders in contrast almost doubled (increase of 95%) compared to the previous year, with 5,276 orders made during 2023, the highest in its series.

Figure 10: Deprivation of Liberty applications and orders, January to March 2011 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 21)

Deprivation of Liberty applications made under the High Court

There are also deprivation of liberty applications made to the High Court, which has the power to make deprivation of liberty orders for children under the age of 18. There were 289 applications for this purpose in October to December 2023, handling the same number of children. Most of these children were teenagers; 57% aged between 13 and 15 and 31% aged between 16 and 18 years (Table 22). These are different from the deprivation of liberty applications and orders made under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 which relate to people over the age of 18.

14. Mental Capacity Act - Office of the Public Guardian

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Continuing increasing trend in Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs)

In October to December 2023, there were 315,572 LPAs registered, the highest in its series and up 26% compared to the equivalent quarter in 2022 (Table 23).

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In total there were 316,805 Powers of Attorney (POAs) registered in October to December 2023, up 26% from the same quarter in 2022 (Table 23). In October to December 2023, 57% of POAs registered were from female donors whilst 42% were from male donors and 52% were over 75 years old. Lasting Power of Attorney (LPAs) made up almost all (99.6%) of POAs registered in October to December 2023, with Enduring Powers of Attorney (EPAs) making up the other 0.4%. There were 1,233 EPAs registered in October to December 2023, down 27% on the equivalent quarter in 2022.

Annually, there were 1,161,958 LPAs registered in 2023, up 37% compared to the previous year and surpassing a million for the first time. There were 6,061 EPAs in 2023, down 7% on 2022. In total, there were 1,168,019 Powers of Attorney in 2023, up 37% from the year before and the highest total in this time series.

The sharp increase in LPAs seen during 2015 and 2016 was largely due to increased publicity and the new online forms introduced in July 2015 making it simpler and faster to apply. The more recent increase in LPAs is part of the trend seen of more applications being made over time as the population ages.

Figure 11: Powers of attorney registered, January to March 2008 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 23)

15. Probate Service

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Probate grants issued more quickly than other grants of representation

Probate grants took approximately 14 weeks to be issued after the application was submitted during October to December 2023. Letters of administration with a will and without a will took around 23 and 17 weeks respectively (Table 25).

Similar levels in both the proportion of digital applications for probate grants and probate grants issued digitally

In October to December 2023, there were 53,927 applications for probate grants. 63,172 probate grants were issued in the same period. 88% of these applications and 89% of these grants issued were made digitally, compared to 89% of each in the same quarter in 2022 (Table 24).

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There were 65,630 applications made for grants of representation in October to December 2023. 53,927 (82%) of these were for probate grants, of which 88% were made digitally (Table 24).

Probate grants also make up the majority (80%) of all grants issued. In October to December 2023, 57% of the grants issued were applied for by legal professionals and 43% were personal applications (Table 24). For the 63,172 probate grants issued in the same period, 89% were issued digitally.

During 2023, there were 302,413 applications made for grants of representation, up 3% on 2022, and the highest number of applications in the series. Of which, there were 244,224 applications for probate grants, up 5% from 2022. There was a total of 277,746 grants of representation issued, up 3% on 2022. There were 219,842 probate grants issued, down by less than 1% from 2022. Probate grants made up 79% of all the grants of representation issued in 2023.

Timeliness of probate grants

The mean average time from application submission to grant issue for probate grants was 14 weeks (median average 11 weeks) in October to December 2023. The mean time between application submission and grant being issued is the second highest it’s been since 2019, and represents work to focus on the oldest cases. Whilst the mean average time for the majority of grants (digital probate grants for applications not stopped which formed 65% of total probate grants issued) took approximately 10.2 weeks from application submission to grant issue and was maintained at 7.9 weeks from document receipt to grant issue.

Timeliness of grants issued can be affected if the case has been ‘stopped’ for any reason (which can occur when there’s a dispute about either who can apply for probate or issues with a will or proposed will, or if an error is identified and a request for further information made). Probate grants that were stopped during October to December 2023 took 23 weeks on average to be issued, compared to 10 weeks for those that were not stopped.

When looking at the time from document receipt (i.e. when payment has been made and the application and all accompanying documents are ready for examination) to grant issue, this is around 2 weeks quicker than the average time from application submission for probate grants.

Averages for letters of administration with a will and without a will were 23 and 17 weeks respectively for October to December 2023, though these formed a smaller proportion of all grants issued, 4% and 16% respectively (Figure 12).

Figure 12: Average (mean) time for grants of representation issued from application submission by the Probate Service, July to September 2019 to October to December 2023 (Source: Table 25)^{[footnote 5]}

When a probate case is contested, the Chancery Division of the High Court deals with the matter. In 2023 there were 122 contested probate cases, up from 116 cases in 2022.

16. Further information

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The data presented in this publication are from live administrative databases. Therefore, previously published data is liable to be updated in the latest bulletin, following any further data cleaning or the incorporation of additional cases not available in the extracts used to produce previous bulletins.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

• A technical guide providing further information on how the data is collected and processed, as well as information on the revisions policy and legislation relevant to family court and background on the functioning of the family justice system

• A set of overview tables and CSV files, covering each section of this bulletin. Please note due to data quality issues the annual Matrimonial Matters County & UA CSV has not been published whilst work is ongoing to resolve this.

National Statistics status

National Statistics status are ‘accredited official statistics’ that meet the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.

Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in January 2019. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for National Statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the Authority promptly. National Statistics status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained, and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office:

Tel: 0203 334 3536

Other enquiries about these statistics should be directed to:

Carly Gray, Head of Access to Justice Data and Statistics, using the following email address familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 27 June 2024

URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/family-court-statistics-quarterly

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Produced by the Ministry of Justice

Alternative formats are available on request from familycourt.statistics@justice.gov.uk

1. See the accompanying technical guide for more information. ↩

2. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) also publishes (England only) data on the number of private law cases. A comparison of Cafcass and MoJ data and further information can be found in the accompanying guide. ↩

3. Please see the accompanying guide for further details. ↩

4. Due to quality issues in the transition between data systems, the breakdown by type of grants of representation for Q2 2019 were rounded estimates only, with the average distribution across 2016 to 2018 applied to the known total. These estimates then feed into the total for 2019. ↩