Number of mothers representing themselves rises by 52%

In 2013/14 almost 20,000 more parents went to court without a lawyer, according to government figures released as a consequence of a Freedom of Information request.

The rise in unrepresented parents contesting child contact and residence cases follows the withdrawal of legal aid from family lawyers in April 2013 for most private family law matters.

Although the government changes were intended to reduce the number of parents proceeding to court, cuts to legal aid have resulted in an annual increase. However, it is the increase in the number of unrepresented parents that will be likely to cause most concern.

For the first time ever, over half (57%) of all parents who attended court in 2013/14 in private law children proceedings did so without a lawyer to represent them. In total, family courts dealt with 19,140 more unrepresented parents.  Judges and magistrates have warned of the pressure the courts are suffering as a result of the rise in the number of litigants in person.

Jerry Karlin, Chair of Families Need Fathers, said:

“It is staggering that so many parents are effectively being left to fend for themselves. We urgently need to develop affordable and compelling services that strive to keep parents from the courtroom. Children need their parents to communicate effectively with each other so that conflict can be addressed and ultimately resolved.”

Over half the rise in the number of unrepresented parties were women. Without access to legal aid for representation at court, the number of unrepresented mothers rose by 52% to almost 35,000. And for the first time, mothers made up more than half (53%) of all unrepresented parents attending court to contest child arrangements.

The government figures were provided in response to a Freedom of Information request by LawyerSupportedMediation.com, a UK-wide divorce & separation service.

Marc Lopatin, the founder of LawyerSupportedMediation.com said:

“Legal aid remains available for mediation and it’s extremely effective at helping parents reach agreement. The biggest challenge is getting more parents to explore it. This won’t happen unless the Ministry of Justice uses legal aid to bring lawyers and mediators together. At present, it’s driving them apart.”

Source: http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed131047