Swindon firm offers £27 divorces (From Swindon Advertiser)

Swindon firm offers £27 divorces

10:20am Thursday 3rd January 2013 in News

CHEAP divorces are being offered to Scottish couples by a Swindon-based company which charges as little as £27 for the online service.

Divorce Online says it can carry out the separation within six weeks for uncontested divorces with no children under 16.

The company has reacted to criticism from family campaigners by saying it is helping people avoid big legal bills.

Owner Mark Keenan, a certified paralegal, said: “We have found a process already in existence, made that process more efficient and lowered the cost.

“People think about what they are doing - it is not an impulse purchase.”

A more expensive package costs £195 for couples with children under 16 and takes up to 10 weeks.

Mr Keenan, who is based in Swindon, said the procedure was simple form filling.

But Norman Wells, of the Family Education Trust, said online divorce companies were exploiting couples instead of helping them to talk through their differences.

Melanie Swan, an IT analyst from Angus who used Divorce Online to split from her husband, said the service “went really smoothly”.