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!

[Goobergrapejelly]

I'm sorry as there just doesn't seem to be rhyme or reason as to why some take longer than others. Mine was very straightforward so I thought it would be quick. It wasn't helped that they did lose the paperwork the first time, I submitted it again end Sept and then the nisi was granted end Jan. I decided to push through the divorce and apply for the consent order, otherwise I'd still be waiting. I'm hoping it isn't too much longer.

[lillymoe]

We did a 5 year separation divorce, that still took 12 months.

[coraltree]

My stbex contested the divorce (but lost). Glad to see the law may soon be changed to disallow this.

[cd74]

Hi how much longer will i have to wait? I sent off my application for degree nisi on the 25th march 2019 and still havent heard anything about when i can apply for my degree absolute. I know i will have to wait 6 weeks and 1 day but I just want to know how much longer I will have to wait to get the date on when I can make the application

[cd74]

I have no financial order and both parties agree

[Goobergrapejelly]

If you've applied for your nisi, you need to wait for it to be issued, which could be a while. Mine took 4 months because the paperwork got lost, but other people's has been quicker. Once you have it, then you have to wait for 6 weeks and 1 day.

[Itsallchange]

@cd74 current time scales for bury st Edmunds
London & South East Divorce Unit Current Work Position
Last updated 03/05/19 at 08:45 am
• We are currently processing petitions received on 15/04/19
• We are currently processing help with fees applications received on 03/05/19
• We are currently processing acknowledgements of service received on 16/04/19
• We are currently processing applications for decree nisi received on 15/04/19
• We are currently processing Applications received on 12/04/19
• We are currently processing correspondence including emails received on 13/03/19
• We are currently processing approved decree nisi applications considered on 02/04/19 and refused decree nisi applications considered on 02/04/19
• We are currently processing approved / refused orders made by a District Judge on 09/04/19
• We are currently processing Form As received on 12/04/19
• Consent Orders received on 25/02/19 are waiting to be considered by a District Judge
• Replies to Consent Order refusals that were received on 01/05/2019 waiting to be considered by a District Judge
• Consent Orders approved and refused by the District Judge on 09/04/19
• We are currently processing Decree Absolutes received on 03/05/19
HTH

[Kempy60]

Hello!

I'm a guy (sorry about that! Ha!) but thought I would update as I have been trying to get my divorce sorted and have a time scale.

Petitioned for divorce mid-September 2018 on uncontested adultery basis.

Decree Absolute granted 11th of April.

Consent order filled 30th of April........

It seems that things are starting to move though at Bury St Edmunds as today the auto-update has really changed. See below:

Yesterday it was saying consent orders from the 01.03 are waiting to be looked at, today is is 12.04. Massive difference.

Hopeful for some news soon so I can move on and buy a house!

Last updated 09/05/19 at 09:53am

We are currently processing petitions received on 17/04/19

We are currently processing help with fees applications received on 09/05/19

We are currently processing acknowledgements of service received on 16/04/19

We are currently processing applications for decree nisi received on 17/04/19

We are currently processing Applications received on 12/04/19

We are currently processing correspondence including emails received on 14/03/19

We are currently processing approved decree nisi applications considered on 02/04/19 and refused decree nisi applications considered on 03/04/19

We are currently processing approved / refused orders made by a District Judge on 10/04/19

We are currently processing Form As received on 12/04/19

Consent Orders received on 12/04/19 are waiting to be considered by a District Judge

Replies to Consent Order refusals that were received on 07/05/2019 waiting to be considered by a District JudgeConsent

Orders approved and refused by the District Judge on 12/04/19

We are currently processing Decree Absolutes received on 09/05/19

[Itsallchange]

Thank you for the update @Kempy60

[CatyaPurella]

@kempy60 did you apply for the absolute before doing the consent order? In theory we can apply for the absolute now but are waiting for our house sale to go through within the next month to try and make things easier (ie we won’t have any shared assets then). Just wondered if it makes much difference to do it after the absolute?

[Kempy60]

I am giving the house and cash settlement to my ex wife so I did the consent order after the absolute. On the 30th of April.

This is because I have shares in a company that I cannot sell, so I am offsetting it with signing it all over to my ex.

I think if I was taking anything from the marriage I would of done the consent order before the absolute, that's what my solictor said anyway.

[Goobergrapejelly]

It's just so strange because we applied for our consent order in early February and we've still not heard back. But according to the timescales we should have recieved a reply by now.

[Itsallchange]

It’s gone to march today for consent orders 🤔🤔🤔

[Kempy60]

I have no idea what the hell is going on with that then. I don't trust it at all.

It certainly said the 12th of April yesterday as I copied and pasted direct from the email I get yesterday.

[Itsallchange]

As you said in your message it all seems a mess! I think they had made a mistake on the screen shot that you took yesterday and have corrected it today, I have emailed a few times to get the updated info and tbh it doesn’t seem that they are getting through anything very quickly!

[Tiddleypops]

Is this their autoreply if you email them?

[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.

[MichaelGRae]

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

[Itsallchange]

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

[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

[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]

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

[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.

[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.

[Itsallchange]

It’s so bloomin frustrating!