HM Courts & Tribunals Service is continuing with an investigation into a fault in an online divorce form used to calculate financial settlements, to assess how many people have been affected.  

The error was discovered at the end of last year but had been present on the Ministry of Justice website since April 2014. The error left debts out of its automated calculation of settlements, which solicitors said could lead to many financial orders having to be revisited.

An HMCTS spokesperson said: ‘Officials are taking steps to rapidly identify cases where this regrettable error may have had an impact. We will be writing to anyone affected as soon as possible.’

According to family solicitor Tony Roe, it has been made clear that the form used by solicitors in schedule 1 of the Children Act 1989 applications is unaffected by the error.

He added that judges have been made aware that the issue will need to be dealt with in any ongoing financial relief proceedings.