Divorce - Solicitor Fees

Sarahsaver

http://www.clsdirect.org.uk/legalhelp/calculator.jsp?lang=en

legal aid eligibility calculator

I did not pay my solicitor a penny.

Rikki

I had to leave Our Company prior to our divorce and went onto income support. I still had to pay for my legal aid even though I was on benifits at the time.

Bossyboots

I can answer a few points raised here.

Firstly, to the poster who said there were costs capped at £2,500. That is the initial allowance in fees on a legal aid certificate. If the solicitor goes over that without requesting an increase that is tough. They do not get more than the £2,500. That is including disbursements but without VAT.

Secondly, if a property and/or other assets form part of the matrimonial settlement and a party in receipt of legal aid is awarded a share to keep then they have to pay their solicitor's fees. These are at a vastly reduced rate to paying privately but can stil run into thousands. On Certificates issued prior to July this year, the first £3,000 of settlement is exempt. That rule has now been removed and the whole settlement is subject to the "Statutory Charge". It doesn't matter what your results are on the eligibility calculator. If you receive or retain money or property you have to pay the fees. The Legal Services Commission will agree to place a charge on your property at an interest rate of currently 8% to be paid off when the property is sold. Also, if any money realised from the sale of a matrimonial home is going on the purchase of a home for the person in receipt of legal aid, then the charge will be placed on that new property and the money remains available but only for the purpose of buying a property. You will have to prove that that is the case. Otherwise, your solicitor can only release to you any sum in excess of their fees and the rest is paid to the LSC.

The eligibility calculator works out whether you are entitled to legal aid and whether you have to pay a bit monthly towards the costs. Even if you pay monthly, any balance between those contributions and the final costs is still payable to the LSC.

Sarahsaver, if you had legal aid and recovered money or property you should have paid the costs, either immediately or on a deferred basis. The LSC are currently having a blitz on old matters and if they find you should have paid the charge and didn't they will be after you and your solicitor. It may well be that your solicitor has made a mistake and did not do the necessary paperwork to protect the legal aid fund. In those circumstances, if they have not been able to recover the money from you, they will have refused to pay your solicitor or taken back any costs they had been paid.

Noozan

Bossyboots wrote:

Firstly, to the poster who said there were costs capped at £2,500. That is the initial allowance in fees on a legal aid certificate. If the solicitor goes over that without requesting an increase that is tough. They do not get more than the £2,500. That is including disbursements but without VAT.

Hm, I'm not sure why the costs were capped in my DH's case then. He's in full time and fairly well paid employment and was not eligible for assistance. The costs were capped without us asking though, they sent an invoice showing what the costs should have been and then a summary asking us to pay less than the full amount.

Bossyboots

Noozan wrote:

Hm, I'm not sure why the costs were capped in my DH's case then. He's in full time and fairly well paid employment and was not eligible for assistance. The costs were capped without us asking though, they sent an invoice showing what the costs should have been and then a summary asking us to pay less than the full amount.

Are you sure they did not just offer a reduction anyway? It would be unusual for a person not in receipt of legal aid to have their costs taxed by the court but it does happen. This is normally after the paying party has raised an objection to the bill though.

The only other thing I can think of is that they exceeded their estimate and only charged what they originally quoted.

hex2

If it is totally amicable and you have agreed about finance and children then try https://www.justdivorce.co.uk who will complete the paperwork and file for you from £150. Used them myself for a no child divorce and would recommend them (but hopefully not use them again!)
The real costs rack up when you get a solicitor involved. For a straightforward file for divorce and agree up front financial settlement I was quoted around £750. My friend has paid out over £12k to take his ex wife through court - this was just to get her to exchange info pre the FDR. Hate to imagine hwta it would cost for all the way.

Becles

I looked into companies such as the one posted above.

All they do is fill in the paperwork based on what you tell them, and send them to the court for you. If you get the free forms from court, you can fill them in and post/hand deliver them yourself, and save the £150.

Bossyboots

While I agree the actual divorce can be done yourself, the financial settlement should not be. It is imperative a proper agreement is obtained to ensure that there is a proper clause preventing the parties claiming against each other in the future.

What makes the costs go up and up and up in financial settlement cases is the dogmatic views of either or both parties and the refusal to compromise. If both parties acted like decent human beings they could get it all done and dusted at minimal cost.

dwsjarcmcd

Bossyboots wrote:

While I agree the actual divorce can be done yourself, the financial settlement should not be. It is imperative a proper agreement is obtained to ensure that there is a proper clause preventing the parties claiming against each other in the future.

What makes the costs go up and up and up in financial settlement cases is the dogmatic views of either or both parties and the refusal to compromise. If both parties acted like decent human beings they could get it all done and dusted at minimal cost.

While Bossyboots is totally right, my experience is that solicitors can make this much worse than it need be by putting unrealistic expectations (either by way of how little you need to pay or how much you could get) that can make a compromise difficult because after seeing a solicitor one party can feel that the other is trying to 'shaft' them. I really believe that solicitors have a duty of care in this area, which I'm sure most wouls accept

jockettuk

dwsjarcmcd wrote:

While Bossyboots is totally right, my experience is that solicitors can make this much worse than it need be by putting unrealistic expectations (either by way of how little you need to pay or how much you could get) that can make a compromise difficult because after seeing a solicitor one party can feel that the other is trying to 'shaft' them. I really believe that solicitors have a duty of care in this area, which I'm sure most wouls accept

oh how true and then an amicable agreement becomes a war..