UK Family Law Market Report 2026

Steady Market Growth Forecast with CAGR at 5.8% to 2029

The UK Family Law Report 2026 is the 12th edition of this annual research report series.

The annual value of the family law market reached an estimated £2.32bn in 2025 representing market growth of 6.4% on the 2024 market value. Annual market value growth rates have been improving year-on-year since 2020. Total cases started in the family court increased in 2025, but case completions slipped a little as court backlogs and delays continue to have an impact on case timescales. A high level of litigants in person (LIPs) in some areas, e.g. adoption, private Children Act and domestic violence cases, means some cases are taking longer than if a legal professional was involved.

In volume terms, the market is dominated by general practice law firms where family law is part of a broader portfolio of consumer legal services. Some top 100 UK corporate law firms offer family law services to their high-net-worth clients while national consumer law firms, i.e. Irwin Mitchell, Simpson Millar, Slater & Gordon, have family law teams.

There is also a relatively small group of specialist family law firms in the volume market, but they are increasing their market share. This group is led by Stowe Family Law and other key players are Raydens, amicable, and Family Law Partners.

Total cases started in the family courts increased by 2.9% in 2025 reaching 270,474 but case completions slipped by 0.6%. Growth was driven by financial remedy cases (increase of 7.9%) and Children Act Private Law cases which grew by 7.3%.

Divorce petitions filed numbered 109,817 in 2025, a decrease of 1.3% on 2024. The long-term trend has been for divorce petitions to fall. In 2025, 96% of all divorce petitions were filed digitally.

Domestic violence orders applied for - 36,376 - reached their highest level for a decade and there was also a 11.4% increase in case completions.

Initiatives and legislative changes in 2026 include: the rollout of Child Focused Courts (previously named Pathfinder Courts) across all of England and Wales; another extension of the mediation voucher scheme to end-March 2027; repeal of the presumption of parental involvement; likely consultation on co-habitation reforms.

The forecast for market value growth in 2026 is 6.0% continuing the good growth recorded in 2025. Between 2025 and 2029 the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is forecast at 5.8%. By 2029, the market value is forecast to reach £2.9bn.