Ridiculous delays at Bury St Edmunds

[silverkitten]

Venting my frustration at the news I had from my solicitor at the end of the week to tell me that the certificate of entitlement to Decree Nisi has been granted - about 7 weeks after paperwork was submitted.
However, due to the heavy backlog of work at court, it is currently taking 40 to 50 days on average for the file to be passed from the judge to the admin team for court documents to be typed up. And if that weren't bad enough, confirmation of the date for the decree nisi will take 2 to 4 weeks after the Certificate has been typed up.
Why is this so difficult and taking so long? Shouldn't there be some sort of service level agreement in place? It is shocking. Truly shocking. God help us all going through this. Rant over!

[Freeat40]

Decree Absolutes are dealt with pretty much same day at BSE so I would expect it within a week or so.

[pdak]

Hi all, i receive a letter from "In the Family Court at BURY ST. EDMUNDS"
which says my Decree Nisi will be pronounced on 23rd January, 2020. so it means after 43 days from 23rd Jan i.e. 5th March 2020 i can apply for Decree Absolute.

My question is, How many days will court take to issue decree of absolute after i apply it ? (when i apply at 5th March) how many days more should i have wait to receive that final letter of absolute from the court?

[Tiddleypops]

Hi @pdak they are currently dealing with acknowledgements of service received on 22nd November so you definitely should have heard something by now.
This is according to their automated email response which is useful at various points. Just send a blank email to [email protected]

They lost my paperwork too.

I followed it up by calling the helpline number. They will have you on hold for 30 mins but will be able to check the current status of things. They should be able to tell you what to do next or call the court for you directly to follow up. In my case this still didn't work because then the person who helped me at the court went off sick the next day!
So I ended up putting in a complaint, which, if they have lost your paperwork, is absolutely justified. At this point things started to move again properly, I got a call back and everything dealt with.
courttribunalfinder.service.gov.uk/courts/bury-st-edmunds-divorce-centre go here and find the 'Make a Complaint' link.

Hope you get sorted. It seems horrifically common for them to lose stuff. Really really poor in my opinion. It's cost me months of my life because they lost my original marriage certificate and I ended up having to sort a new one.

[pdak]

Hi Goobergrapejelly

you mentioned that you made a new application again as court lost your paperwork does that mean you had to start all over again i.e. filing new a divorce application (fresh) or you just had to make a new application for Decree Nisi? (after acknowledgement of service).

mine acknowledgment of service had been posted on Sept 16,2019 and since then i haven't heard anything.

any idea how long shall it take further ?

[Ednabailey94]

I received this today my papers went in November 18 still nothing now I’m stressing
PLEASE NOTE: Petitions are currently being sent to Bury - please use Bury’s work state in these cases.

Please Note: This is an automatic information update - Last updated 8/10/2019 at 15:03

· We are currently processing petitions received on 27.08.2019. All paper petitions received are now been forwarded to Bury St Edmunds for processing.
· We are currently processing help with fees applications received on 1.07.2019
· We are currently processing acknowledgements of service received on 22.07.2019
· We are currently processing applications for directions for trial received on 5/07.19
· We are currently processing Applications received on 27.06.19
· We are currently processing correspondence including emails received on 5.8.2019
· We are currently processing approved / refused directions for trial application considered on 14/08/2019
· We are currently processing approved / refused orders made by a District Judge on 10.07.2019
· We are currently processing Form A's received on 27.06.2019
· Consent Orders received on 10/07/.2019 are waiting to be considered by a District Judge
· Replies to Consent Order refusals that were received on 10.07.2019 waiting to be considered by a District Judge
· We are currently processing Consent Orders that were approved on 16.07.2019
· We are currently processing Consent Orders that were refused on 16.07.2019

We are currently processing Decree Absolutes received on 4.10.2019


This e-mail and any attachments is intended only for the attention of the addressee(s). Its unauthorised use, disclosure, storage or copying is not permitted. If you are not the intended recipient, please destroy all copies and inform the sender by return e-mail. Internet e-mail is not a secure medium. Any reply to this message could be intercepted and read by someone else. Please bear that in mind when deciding whether to send material in response to this message by e-mail. This e-mail (whether you are the sender or the recipient) may be monitored, recorded and retained by the Ministry of Justice. Monitoring / blocking software may be used, and e-mail content may be read at any time. You have a responsibility to ensure laws are not broken when composing or forwarding e-mails and their contents.

[Packit]

Just to let you know I put my consent order into BSE court on 8th June, it has been signed and sealed by the judge, And i received it back on 3rd October last week.

[Tottle1]

Has anyone had any experience with Deems Service applications? My ex has been an absolute nightmare and have to pay private investigators, write statements and prove he is holding things up but been served. This application was submitted on 4th June to Nottingham and then moved to BSE, for some reason, and I hsbd not heard a thing.
So frustrating as i have been trying to get a divorce for 3 years now.
Any advice would be welcome.

[Kempy60]

Ok,

Got my sealed order through on the 14th of August, all agreed and no changes. So it took from 30th of April to the 14th of August.

3.5 months and we both agreed on what was in it. Crazy.

Still, it's all done now. Thank god!

[coraltree]

Getting the Decree Nisi from Bury St Eds took a year. They made at least one mistake. No apology. I blame government cutbacks

[Kempy60]

Me to.

My Ex wanted to wait for the 2 year separation, but I forced the issue to get it done and dusted.

So glad I did, but wish I had done it even sooner!

Absolute madness, especially as we both agree what has been proposed and it is fair as far as the solicitor is concerned.

[Itsnotme123]

There’s nothing we can do to speed the process up. I only wished we started divorce proceedings earlier, rather than just sitting around wondering what to do.

I’m just keeping myself occupied to make time go quicker. But I hate this limbo time.

[Kempy60]

My solicitor will not commit or give me an idea of when it will be completed.

See below part of the communication from the solicitor:

"The Judge will not have been working on it since the 26th May - that is the date that the court have logged in their system for the order having left the Court admin. They do give us weekend dates for such things, and it maywell be that they are working overtime as they are in such difficulties. Once it is passed to the Judge it then sits in the queue of applications for him/her to deal with. Once the Judge has decided, it is then sent back to the Court admin for them to writeto us. So it simply means that at present it is amongst the orders that the Judge is either considering or has considered. I am afraid that once it is sent back down from the Judge to Court admin, it will then stay with them for quite some time until theyget to the point of writing out to us either with a sealed order or with any queries that the Judge may have.
I am afraid that this is not at all unusual at present, and even in cases that have taken much longer, making a number of formal complaints to the Court has not speeded the process up."

There does not seem to be any way of knowing what is happening or when you can expect a resolution.

It is maddening though. A straightforward divorce took 9 months and now I cannot get the consent order through, even though me and my ex have agreed it.

I moved out of the family home and into a 2 bedroom flat when we decided to separate, as a stop gap.

I will have been in that flat 2 years in September and my children are now 8 and 11 (Boy and Girl), and I have them half the time. It's causing real life issues now.

Where me and my ex were good friends after separation she is starting to get annoyed that I cannot sign the house over and pay her the money that we have agreed between us.

This process and the courts complete lack of competence is starting to cause major issues in mine, my children's and my ex-wife's lives now.

I cannot afford to keep paying the mortgage, rent and maintenance. Something will have to happen soon or I will be facing major financial issues and as a consequence so will my children and ex.

[Itsnotme123]

Just seen that your solicitor says you should contact the court. I’m wondering if the delay is getting longer and longer..

[Itsnotme123]

kempy my consent order is with the judge now, and I was told there’s an 8 week wait. So mine should be done 8th August.

What does your solicitor say ?

[Kempy60]

I have an update on things consent order.

Apparently our order was put in front of a judge on the 26th of May. (a Sunday?) and that's where it has stayed.

It went in on the 30th of April and it's now the 2nd of July.

Also says in the email from my solicitor that they have been advised to contact the court in 3-4 weeks if we haven't heard anything!!

So frustrating. I've completely had enough of it now.

[Itsallchange]

It’s so bloomin frustrating!

[Goobergrapejelly]

I agree with @kempy60 not to take any notice of the auto replies. My consent order was sent 6th February. It took 3 months for them to reply wanting to know why my ex isn't giving me any money. It's crazy, I'm the one asking for the consent order, not my ex, as I just want the whole thing done and dusted. It's clear I've had legal advice as the order was drafted by my solicitor. Not to mention it would cost more in legal fees than the amount of money I'd get. So now we have to respond, and it'll likely be another 3 months to get a response.

[Kempy60]

I have an update for this. It's frustrating but it's an update.

My consent order went in on the 30.04.19.

I called my solicitor yesterday to see if she had heard anything and she basically told me that it's too early to chase.

She then went on to explain that the last sealed consent order she received took 4 months!!!

4 MONTHS

I feel totally exasperated by the entire process and am at my wits end. Me and my ex agree on everything and it is fair what we have agreed. In the eyes of the solicitor.

Imagine how long it would take if you didn't agree!

As I said, not the best update, but an update.

Also, the solicitor said the auto updates on the work positions are a complete joke and not to pay any attention to them.

[Itsallchange]

Its so frustrating 😡 I will need to do a consent order once the Nisi is issued and they are still on march for them 😩😩 everything is just so long winded

[Tiddleypops]

Argh! It just gets longer! Last time I checked, decree nisi applications were being processed after about 2.5 weeks. Now it's a month

[Itsallchange]

t Work Position
Last updated 14/05/19 at 09:07am
• We are currently processing petitions received on 18/04/19
• We are currently processing help with fees applications received on 14/05/19
• We are currently processing acknowledgements of service received on 29/04/19
• We are currently processing applications for decree nisi received on 18/04/19
• We are currently processing Applications received on 15/04/19
• We are currently processing correspondence including emails received on 27/03/19
• We are currently processing approved decree nisi applications considered on 08/04/19 and refused decree nisi applications considered on 04/04/19
• We are currently processing approved / refused orders made by a District Judge on 10/04/19
• We are currently processing Form As received on 15/04/19
• Consent Orders received on 12/03/19 are waiting to be considered by a District Judge
• Replies to Consent Order refusals that were received on 02/05/2019 waiting to be considered by a District Judge
• Consent Orders approved and refused by the District Judge on 10/04/19
• We are currently processing Decree Absolutes received on 14/05/19

[Itsallchange]

Oh my days the automated email hasn’t moved on for days!
I send a blank email to [email protected]

[MichaelGRae]

Can someone remind me how I get the automated update email of processing times as I too am still waiting on BSE. Thanks

[coraltree]

Not that it’s anything to boast about, but this is how long my divorce is taking: the father of my children got the divorce petition in Jan 2018, but after numerous delays caused both by my former husband and the court the Decree Nisi was only granted in February 2019. My stbx (but ‘soon’ may not be the mot juste) then contested the divorce and now, two expensive court hearings later, (but the excellent judge ordered him to pay costs), I am filling in Form E. The nightmarish process continues.

[Tiddleypops]

Is this their autoreply if you email them?