Court is expensive: should I arbitrate instead?
29th November 2016
From 28th November 2016 the charges levied for Sheriff Court actions are going up. If you have a ‘simple’ divorce now in the Sheriff Court the outlays that you are going to be paying are likely to exceed £1,000 (assuming a two day hearing and only the most basic motion procedure). If the action is more complex you could easily end up nearer the £2,000 mark. The other mandatory expense in the Sheriff Court is the employment of a shorthand writer, which is generally something north of £300 per day.
One of the perceived barriers to arbitration in family cases is that the cost of the Arbitrator is an ‘extra’ expense, that would not be incurred if you were litigating in the public arena of the court. With the costs now at this level it must be the case that in many Sheriff Court cases it is now cheaper to arbitrate than litigate- there being no outlays or shorthand writers fees due and where, in many cases, post-arbitral award the parties can simply make use of the simplified or ‘do it yourself’ divorce process costing £120 in total.
SKO has four FLAGS- Family Law Arbitration Group Scotland- arbitrators. If you want to discuss arbitration as a way of resolving matters and/or our fixed fee arrangement contact Rachael Kelsey or Robert Gilmour for more information.
