Online divorce ??

ox5 · 9 November 2009 at 2:35AM

Hello, some help and advise on Online Divorce? I would like to ask the community if anyone has used one of the many online divorce companies out there, prices seems to range from £68 to £160 for a complete settlement. Has anyone had experience with theses companies, be it good or bad? I would like to know if at the end, its legally binding etc. Are there any hidden costs?

I will not bore the forum with details, but me and the "ex" are all amicable, maintenance is being paid, savings being paid, no mortgage to worry about, and access is also been worked out amongst ourselves.

We do not have a lot of £££ so we are looking at the cheapest option out there, but sometimes, cheap = shoddy or dodgy! So any ideas at all please i would put some names down, but do not want to advertise them or spam etc, but if you google online divorce, a lot will appear.

Thanks in advance.

lowesy · 9 November 2009 at 9:18AM

Hiya ox5

I don't normally post on this board but just seeing your post thought I would add my thoughts.

My husband used an online divorce thingy to divorce his ex-wife. It was all very easy as they were relatively amicable and everything (i.e maintenance, house etc) had been sorted out. What he did find though was that most of the stuff he had to send off to them he could have done directly through the court without paying the (admittedly small for a divorce!) fee. Reckon though that he could only do this because she didn't mess about though.

From what I remember he paid the £168 fee and then of course there's court fees on top of it so in all the actual divorce cost him about £300. Seeing as the relationship nearly cost him his sanity, he felt it was a small price to pay :rotfl:

Edited to add - I've just looked and he used divorce-online.co.uk, the managed divorce service although looking on there now it looks like you can do a DIY divorce with them overseeing it.

HTH xx

Caroline73_2 · 9 November 2009 at 11:55AM

I used divorce online and it was really easy.

I used the basic package for the divorce where they send you the paperwork and tell you what to do with it. They also provided a form which we sent with the divorce papers to the court (i just took them to my local county court) stating that I was having custody of our son.

It was 6 years ago so can't remember exact costs but it was a lot less than a solicitor. No hidden costs, unless you count postage for taking the papers to the court

Definitely legally binding as the court have to do it, the companies just provide the documentation. I'm remarried now so I hope so, LOL.

knithappens · 9 November 2009 at 1:31PM

did it myself through the courts go to http://www.wikivorce.com/divorce/Step-By-Step-Guide/Divorce-Guide/Petition-For-Divorce.html shows you step by step how to do it yourself, plus a good online community

ox5 · 9 November 2009 at 5:37PM

thanks to the above, anybody else have any ideas or thoughts, experiences?

mookiandco · 9 November 2009 at 5:55PM

No experience of online divorce sites but just to confirm that you will have to pay £300 for issuing the petition and £40 for decree absolute however you decide to pursue the divorce. If you are on a low income or certain benefits you may be fee exempt, although I would doubt that the online divorce sites would bother informing you of this. Alternatively, you may be entitled to free legal advice from a solicitor and its worth telephoning one who does legal aid to ask them to assess you on the telephone. If you are, then I would suggest a solicitor is your best bet especially if there are finances e.g a house, it would be better for there to be a consent order lodged with the court even if things are amicable now.

Becles · 9 November 2009 at 7:13PM

I did a DIY divorce by getting the forms from the court and filling them in myself. If you can follow instructions and fill the forms in, all you would have to pay would be the statutory court fees assuming you are not exempt. If you get stuck, the court office can offer free advice on how to fill the form in, but they can't give legal advice.

Make sure you get a Financial Consent Order (or Clean Break Order) as well as the divorce. The divorce only ends the relationship aspect, and you need the financial one to break your finances. Once you have that in place, neither party can make a claim on the other ones finances ever again. You don't want an ex popping up and staking a claim of any future inheritance, lottery wins, etc.

daska · 9 November 2009 at 9:02PM

NB The financial consent order is only a clean break if there are no children involved

pretzelnut · 9 November 2009 at 9:57PM

DONT pay one of these online companies to do anything - you can do it all yourself for free (excluding the statutory court fee's) My mum used one earlier this year paid £147 and all they did was send her out the forms, she spent most of her time going to the courts to get them to help her, the company she paid did sod all and never replied to emails / phonecalls.

Becles · 9 November 2009 at 11:04PM

daska wrote: »

NB The financial consent order is only a clean break if there are no children involved

How does that work?

I was granted one to stop my ex trying to claim more money from me after our divorce, but he still has to pay me child maintenance. As far as I know it means he can never claim from me again, and I can't claim from him but the children will be provided for.

ox5 · 10 November 2009 at 7:35AM

princesswoo wrote: »

DONT pay one of these online companies to do anything - you can do it all yourself for free (excluding the statutory court fee's) My mum used one earlier this year paid £147 and all they did was send her out the forms, she spent most of her time going to the courts to get them to help her, the company she paid did sod all and never replied to emails / phonecalls.

and how would i go about doing it myself? i know i will have to pay the court costs etc:cool:

Online divorce ??

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