£99 do-it-yourself divorces are to be sold by the Co-op supermarket.
It’s part of their new fixed-fee family law service, which promises “no nasty surprises when it comes to fees.”
Divorce pack prices range from £99 to £475 for a fully-managed split and will be available at all Co-op local supermarkets and bank branches.
Breakdown
But critics say DIY divorces risk making it too easy for married couples to break up.
The Marriage Foundation chairman Sir Paul Coleridge argues the effects of relationship breakdown are ongoing.
He said: “Online and DIY divorces may make the legal paperwork quicker, but the breakdown of the relationship and its consequences are long-lasting.
Support
“We want to see access to relationship support and education made even easier than online divorce.
“Where possible, we believe people should ‘mend it, not end it’.”
Martyn Wates, deputy group chairman of The Co-operative Group, said: “We believe it’s vital to make it as easy as possible for people to gain access to justice.”
Disaster
He said their aim was to be “affordable” in these “challenging times”.
But leading divorce lawyer Vanessa Lloyd-Pratt warned that these kinds of divorces can easily turn into a “disaster.”
Most recent figures available show 119,589 couples in England and Wales divorced in 2010, an increase of 4.9 percent on the previous year.