Rachel Roberts, Regional Director at Stowe Family Law shares her predictions for Family Law in 2025

As we start 2025, we reflect on what developments we might see in family law throughout this year. For much of what follows, this continues the trajectory of what has been witnessed in 2024, though the pace of change, in some areas, remains slow.

Our top 5 predictions for 2025 are as follows:

 

1. Navigating the NCDR Shift: Alternative Resolution is the Future of Family Law

Following the amendment of the FPR (2010) in April 2010, to place more stringent requirements on the parties to participate in NCDR, it’s safe to say that the courts have adopted a robust approach to its application of the changes. It would be unwise for any party to start any proceedings without appropriate consideration of the rules, given the risk of costs awards. There is no doubt that for most families, resolving matters in a non-contentious way is preferable, if not always possible. However, undoubtedly the push towards NCDR methods is not only for the benefit of families, but as part of a need to relieve pressure on the overworked and underfunded judiciary, and if anything, we predict that judges will become more robust at forcing parties to attempt to achieve resolution outside of the court process.

In response, no doubt practitioners will increasingly encourage clients to try alternative means of resolution, and even the more contentious cases will go through private FDR’s, arbitration, or hybrid mediation, with an application to court increasingly becoming even more of a last resort than it is at present. At Stowe, we are already seeing more of our contentious work being resolved through these means and, particularly for those clients with means to afford it, the speed and efficiency of resolving cases is having the desired effect of making traditional litigation less appealing. Similarly, we expect increasing numbers of practitioners to upskill themselves either to offer mediation in its many different forms, or two client one lawyer models or even as arbitrators, to meet increasing demand.

 

2. Pathfinder Pilots: The Future of Early Resolution in Private Law Children Cases

Within private law children proceedings, the pilot “Path-Finder” model may be extended to more courts, with more cases being resolved at an early stage, through early Cafcass involvement. It is unclear what the timing of such further roll out will be, and it seems unlikely that there will be sufficient Cafcass resource for a national roll out to happen successfully any time soon. However, at the very least, we would expect a review in 2025 and potentially a further extension of the pilot, again with a dual focus of early resolution for parties and reducing judicial strain. For those courts where this applies, the drafting of C100s to initiate proceedings will becoming increasingly critical for clients to achieve the outcomes they hope for, and clear advice from the outset as to the different routes a case may take will be vital to ensure that expectations are managed.

 

3. Financial Remedies and Cohabitation Reforms: A Waiting Game for 2025

We are not certain that the Law Commission’s recent scoping report will achieve much beyond some ongoing debate as to what if any reform there should be to the current law on financial remedies. Given that the Law Commission report on cohabitation was published with recommendations on cohabitation in 2007, and as yet not a single change has been made, it is difficult to imagine this taking legislative priority in 2025. On cohabitation, whilst Labour pledged to reform these laws, any firm commitment to do so was sadly missing from its manifesto, and we predict that it is unlikely the long-awaited changes to this area of law will happen in 2025.

 

4. Standish V Standish: Shaping Certainty in Non-Matrimonial Asset Cases

Whilst we may not be able to rely on legislative change, the courts approach to non-matrimonial assets should in theory be more certain, following the outcome in Standish v Standish. Much will depend on the interpretation of the Court of Appeal by lower courts and/or the outcome of the appeal to the Supreme Court but, either way, is likely to impact on the way that we advise clients.

 

5. AI in Family Law: Embracing Innovation Amidst Growing Debate

Our final prediction is that we will see increasing debate and guidance around the use of AI within daily family law practice and proceedings. No doubt both our clients and litigants in person will increasingly making use of this for advice, and we will see the use of it within proceedings, as well as firms adopting it for automation and drafting. We are yet to really have any guidance from the Family Court on the use of AI, but it seems incredulous to think, with the pace of adoption in other industries and in day-to-day life, that we could get to the end of 2025 with no guidance being released.

 

 

 

 

 

Written by, Rachel Roberts, Regional Director

I work within the Talent Acquisition team here at Stowe with a particular focus across the North. I post a variety of blogs from family law to environmental, wellbeing to progressing careers. Subscribe below to be the first to receive our latest family law newsletters.

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