Children cases: More litigants in person
The family law market grew by 6.4% last year to £2.3bn and will keep growing by almost 6% a year until it reaches £2.9bn in 2029, new research has predicted.
Cases started in the family courts increased by 2.9% in 2025 to over 270,000 after two years of decreases, driven by financial remedies and private law Children Act cases.
Financial remedies cases grew by 7.9% last year and private law Children Act cases by 7.3%. Meanwhile, applications for domestic violence orders reached their highest level for a decade, at over 36,300.
“Children Act cases along with advice related to financial remedies and domestic violence will continue to drive market growth.
“Trends in family structures such as more blended families, civil partnerships, co-habitation, families living across international boundaries, plus more co-parenting plans will also help to grow the market.”
In the UK Family Law Market Trends Report 2026 [1], IRN Legal Reports said “likely reforms to help the position of women in co-habiting couples and, further down the line, the possibility of legally binding pre-nuptial agreements” might cause more people to seek legal advice.
Although the number of family law case starts increased last year, court backlogs “continue to be an issue”, with many cases taking longer to complete. Total completions fell by 0.6% in 2025 to 245,000.
One reason why cases were taking longer was a “high level” of litigants in person in areas such as adoption, private law Children Act and domestic violence cases.
A further factor could be the reduction announced by the President of the Family Division last autumn in the number of sitting days at the London Financial Remedies Court from 2026 onwards, following a call by the Ministry of Justice for more family court time to be scheduled for public law cases.
“There will be real difficulties for those who have been awaiting a decision from the court and who have to wait even longer for a resolution.
“The impact of such delays could mean that costs are wasted and duplicated, and certain work may also need to be redone, for example, if valuations become out of date.”
With the family courts system continuing to face significant resource pressures, researchers said arbitration had become more popular, with the number doubling from 89 in 2023 to 178 last year.
“Last year, the government reduced the number of days allocated to high-value financial cases to free up capacity for cases involving children, further pushing couples towards arbitration.
“The reallocation of court time has meant fewer hearing dates are available for financial remedy cases, even as demand for such hearings remains high.
“The result has been longer waiting times and greater uncertainty for couples seeking to resolve financial disputes through the courts.”
Use of mediation also grew, with the number of mediation starts rising by 37% to over 9,800 following three years of decline. A majority of mediations (58%) were successful, the same percentage as the previous year.
Researchers said that, in volume terms, the market was “dominated by general practice law firms where family law is part of a broader portfolio” of consumer legal services.
“Some top 100 UK law firms offer family advice services to their high-net-worth clients alongside their corporate clients, while leading national consumer law firms have large family law departments.
“There is also a relatively small group of specialist family law firms but some of these are increasing their market share.”
Researchers singled out the Stowe Family Law, Raydens and Family Law Partners and the online divorce service amicable, which is not a regulated law firm.