THIS morning the first divorce papers will be lodged with the various registrars of the circuit courts. The first divorce decrees under the new legislation could possibly be made as soon as four weeks later.
This would happen if all the terms of the divorce have been already agreed between the couple, according to the Dublin county registrar, Mr Michael Quinlan. Once the civil bill is issued, the other party will have 10 days in which to lodge a defence.
If the respondent says he or she is not contesting anything in the bill, then the case could come up in a month, he said. "It will come in by way of a motion rather than a full hearing, once the judge is satisfied," he said. "If you come in with your papers on Thursday you could have your divorce four weeks later.
A couple could also take a "fast track" to divorce by agreeing that existing proceedings for a judicial separation be amended to become divorce proceedings, provided the further partners have been separated for four years, according to a barrister, Ms Catherine Forde. But even if they do agree, they will have to produce a number of additional documents with the divorce application, and these will take time to prepare.
However, the majority of people now hoping for a divorce will have to wait until the summer for a hearing, as the lists for family law cases are already long.
The Dublin registrar, Mr Quinlan, pointed out that a further judge will be appointed to the family courts in April, bring the total in Dublin to three, which should ease some of the pressure on the lists.
Asked if there would be a separate list for divorce hearings, he said "Probably", although this would depend on how the demand developed. "We haven't a clue what's there till it happens." The pressure in Dublin now was for extra back up staff rather than judges, he said, and he was confident it would be forthcoming.
Dublin is the only place where specific courts are designated for family law cases. The conditions in many circuit courts outside Dublin are still inadequate, especially for family law cases. Often there is nowhere to wait except in the corridor, possibly standing beside an abusive spouse.
Mr Quinlan said he expected two tracks to divorce to develop, one "fast track" for people who had agreed on the terms of their proposed divorce, and the other where the couple were fighting over property, maintenance, children and all the other fall out from the breakdown of their marriage.
He, and a number of family law specialists, expect considerable litigation to arise from the new provisions for the division of pensions following divorce. Cases concerning pensions have not got into the courts yet, and Mr Quinlan expects test cases when they do, concerning such issues as who pays the costs of the trustees.
Despite the trumpeted £23 for a divorce under legal aid, many practitioners feel the public should not expect divorce to come cheap. One leading family lawyer said she thought that even in uncontested cases, with no counsel or expert opinion, a divorce would cost about £2,000 with a private solicitor.
"At least three documents have to be prepared before you start," she said. "The statement on the welfare of children, for example, is a totally new document. The statement of means is a very complicated document, and it is a sworn document to the court. It would have to include things like benefits in kind, payment of VHI contributions etc, as well as pension details. The whole thing will take a lot of time, especially at first.
"On top of the solicitor's fees there might be fees for counsel, auctioneer's valuations and fees to an accountant. Then there is VAT of 21 per cent on everything."
Ms Muriel Walls, a solicitor with McCann Fitzgerald who specialises in family law, said: "It is a legal process and we have a complicated system. We voted for a complicated system, not for quickie divorce. The system has defects. But it's locked into the Constitution, that's the system we have, and we have to live with it."
For clients of the Legal Aid Board, the cost will be £23 for those with a disposable income of under £5,060 and between that and £595 for people with disposable incomes of between £5,060 and £7,350. Clients may also be asked for a capital contribution depending on their additional assets.
The Legal Aid Board expects to have about 1,000 people seeking divorce in its centres by today, which will mean a considerable increase in its volume of work. This is expected to grow as those currently seeking legal separations, or having obtained them recently, qualify under the four year living apart rule for divorce.
There is no commitment to increase the grant to the Free Legal Aid Board. However, a spokesman fur the Department of Equality and law Reform pointed out that it received £8.3 million this year, compared with £6.2 million in 1996, because of an anticipated increase in the number of family law cases, and that the number of law centres increased from 16 to 30 since 1993.