loan to pay divorce solicitor

Jeff121

This info isn't relevant to 44pinkpink but could save someone else some cash. In Scotland "Simplified Divorce" after 5 years of separation, so long as there's no difficulties of claims from either party costs as little as £62. The £62 cost is the fee levied by the Sheriff Court to serve and process the paperwork. The clerks in the Sheriff Court are extremely helpful, they will send you the necessary forms and are there to help. The divorce should take about 30 days unless there's an objection from your ex but other than that no real need for a solicitor.

johannamse

Hey Pinkpink,

Sorry about all this...gggrrrrr.

Well, I wanted to say, I have not personally ever been divorced, BUT have been confronted with similar situations, where you know NOTHING at start and feel totally overwhelmed and are fighting a big beast.

Well, I cant echo above advice enough. Get READING, and read some more. Don't rely on what anyone else tells you. Become the oracle yourself, and really put alot of effort/ work into.

The quickest lesson I learnt, was to not expect anything to land in your plate, but that there is alot of help out there, although it can generally be in different places.

Good Luck. I am sure you will be fine. Once you learn more, you will feel much more in control. You will also scare ex, and he will be shocked by your new found savvyness and knowledge. GRRREEEAAATTTT!!!

44pinkpink

Jeff121 wrote:

This info isn't relevant to 44pinkpink but could save someone else some cash. In Scotland "Simplified Divorce" after 5 years of separation, so long as there's no difficulties of claims from either party costs as little as £62. The £62 cost is the fee levied by the Sheriff Court to serve and process the paperwork. The clerks in the Sheriff Court are extremely helpful, they will send you the necessary forms and are there to help. The divorce should take about 30 days unless there's an objection from your ex but other than that no real need for a solicitor.

wish i was in scotland!!

44pinkpink

johannamse wrote:

Hey Pinkpink,

Sorry about all this...gggrrrrr.

Well, I wanted to say, I have not personally ever been divorced, BUT have been confronted with similar situations, where you know NOTHING at start and feel totally overwhelmed and are fighting a big beast.

Well, I cant echo above advice enough. Get READING, and read some more. Don't rely on what anyone else tells you. Become the oracle yourself, and really put alot of effort/ work into.

The quickest lesson I learnt, was to not expect anything to land in your plate, but that there is alot of help out there, although it can generally be in different places.

Good Luck. I am sure you will be fine. Once you learn more, you will feel much more in control. You will also scare ex, and he will be shocked by your new found savvyness and knowledge. GRRREEEAAATTTT!!!

Thankyou once again everyone...
I've got the "divorce for Dummies" book....I'm now going to spend the evening reading it properly instead of flicking thro it in a panic. True, i need to be better informed.
xx

jockettuk

Bossyboots wrote:

pinkpink, legal aid and public funding are exactly the same thing. Public funding is simply the name by legal aid is now known. My responses to you by pm remain the same and I have sent you another one.

There are tiers of public funding and your income can be too much for the lower tier but you can still qualify for the higher tier where you would in most cases have to pay a monthly contribution.

You would only have to change solicitors if you qualified for funding and your solicitor was not contracted by the Legal Services Commission to do that sort of work.

if you have money tied up in say property like i have then you are not entittled to legal aid thats what i was told and why ive got public funding .. it means the solicitors bill will be lower as they dont charge the full amount but you still have to pay the bill when you sell the property or come into the monies owed... I will pay my 3 yr old bill next yr when i sell my property..

Bossyboots

jockettuk wrote:

if you have money tied up in say property like i have then you are not entittled to legal aid thats what i was told and why ive got public funding .. it means the solicitors bill will be lower as they dont charge the full amount but you still have to pay the bill when you sell the property or come into the monies owed... I will pay my 3 yr old bill next yr when i sell my property..

but it is the same thing. I have no idea why you were told it by two different names or why you were told if you had property you could not get it. The matrimonial home is not counted for legal aid purposes, it is only if you have additional property that you could have assets over the financial limits as far as property is concerned. How long ago did you have this funding? If it was some time ago, then the rules changed a while ago so you may have fallen foul of an old scheme although it is not something I recall ever coming across.

The only other thing would be if your solicitor actually arranged the funding in which case, s/he is using the phrase public funding to mean something entirely different to the meaning I am using. This would have been by way of some sort of loan. I thought you posted in the past that you received a certificate for your public funding from the legal aid board which would indicate this was legal aid.

I have stated what the position is now, the equity in the matrimonial home does not count, nor do any other assets that fall to be divided in the settlement provided these fall below £100,000. Where capital is retained or awarded, the costs have to be repaid to the legal services commission either immediately (if you receive a cash payout) or a charge is placed on the property on which interest is payable currently at 8% (higher than borrowing on the high street at the moment). If you fail to qualify because the capital assets are too high, there is no other option under the legal aid scheme, you have to pay privately. If your solicitor chooses to come to an arrangement with you, that is between you and them.

The rates of pay to the solicitor for public funding work is much lower than private. There is a slight double edge to the sword in that rather bizarrely, the solicitor owes a duty of care not only to the client but also to the LSC. Therefore, if the client fails to give instructions or gives unreasonable instructions, the solicitor has to report this to the LSC and funding could be withdrawn. The opponent can also report to the LSC if they believe a party is abusing their funding. There is a slight limitation on changing solicitors as well, as you would have to show that it is reasonable for you to change solicitors at a particular stage of proceedings (for example if you decide one week before a final hearing that you don't like the advice you are getting and seek to have your funding moved, you will be denied as the cost to the public purse will not be justified).

jockettuk

Thanks yes i got a certificate it said it was for public funding.. this was abt 4 yrs ago it stopped 2 yrs ago but ive had to go see solicitor this week as im now selling my half to my ex as im moving away.. again he has said i have to have public funding..go to a mediation meeting etc etc which to be truthful i find a complete waste of time..im seeing my solicitor this morning i will talk it over with him.

Bossyboots

jockettuk wrote:

Thanks yes i got a certificate it said it was for public funding.. this was abt 4 yrs ago it stopped 2 yrs ago but ive had to go see solicitor this week as im now selling my half to my ex as im moving away.. again he has said i have to have public funding..go to a mediation meeting etc etc which to be truthful i find a complete waste of time..im seeing my solicitor this morning i will talk it over with him.

You received your funding at the switch over time from calling it legal aid to calling it public funding. Therefore, you did receive legal aid but under its new name.

Under the new rules you can only have public funding now for family work if you go for mediation first. Also, if your means test comes out at you paying £70 or more per month towards your legal aid you will have to try and get a loan instead. It will only be when you can prove you cannot borrow the money that you can apply for legal aid. You need clear income of around £800 per month to fall into that category.

I am surprised he is suggesting funding as this is actually a conveyancing transfer now and I think he will be hard pressed to justify this to the LSC, unless your ex is being difficult about agreeing figures or buying you out. I presume though you are implementing the terms of a consent order. If everything is straightforward, you might find it cheaper to approach a conveyancing solicitor and agree a fixed fee. From your side it is pretty much a case of signing the transfer and receiving the money, unless as I say there are difficulties somewhere. Even at legal aid rates you could end up paying more to a family solicitor than a conveyancing solicitor for this work.

jockettuk

Bossyboots wrote:

You received your funding at the switch over time from calling it legal aid to calling it public funding. Therefore, you did receive legal aid but under its new name.

Under the new rules you can only have public funding now for family work if you go for mediation first. Also, if your means test comes out at you paying £70 or more per month towards your legal aid you will have to try and get a loan instead. It will only be when you can prove you cannot borrow the money that you can apply for legal aid. You need clear income of around £800 per month to fall into that category.

I am surprised he is suggesting funding as this is actually a conveyancing transfer now and I think he will be hard pressed to justify this to the LSC, unless your ex is being difficult about agreeing figures or buying you out. I presume though you are implementing the terms of a consent order. If everything is straightforward, you might find it cheaper to approach a conveyancing solicitor and agree a fixed fee. From your side it is pretty much a case of signing the transfer and receiving the money, unless as I say there are difficulties somewhere. Even at legal aid rates you could end up paying more to a family solicitor than a conveyancing solicitor for this work.

thanks .. yes a consent order was what was first stated 2 yrs ago ex didnt wouldnt couldnt etc sign then and now he wants to sort it out.. ive in the meantime decided to sell up he wants to buy me out and is being pinickity in what he wants.. im not budging on what i want so a wee bit stalemate.. we almost there. the public funding thing was mainly now so he can look into other options for me as other half been told he might have to pay capital gains tax so therefore trying to offer me less money.. my solicitor looking into it all and double checking what i already found out from this site and the inland revenue..

Thanks ..