The use of private divorce hearings is growing quickly as more high net worth individuals pay to avoid the increasingly stretched family court system, according to UK private wealth law firm Boodle Hatfield.

James Ferguson, head of the family team at Boodle Hatfield, observed that the firm has seen a sharp rise in private hearings for financial settlements in divorce since 2016, as cuts to the justice system have started to bite.

The problems facing the courts system have been brought into sharp focus in recent days with a major IT failure at HM Courts & Tribunal Service. The IT failure affected systems including em...