Does anyone have any experience of Online DIY Divorces?

Mrs_justjohn

I am just wondering if anyone has any experience of DIY Divorce. There are various sites that claim to provide you with all the help, advice, paperwork and support that you need for a fixed fee (a substantially cheaper fee than most solicitors).

My divorce should be very straightforward. I had a separation agreement drawn up when we split 4 years ago. This finalised all matters financial and also drew up a legal agreement regarding maintenance and visitation for our two children.

Divorce would be on the grounds of irretrievable breakdown and uncontested.

The only problem I foresee is that we are both English, married in England and both children were born in England and we lived in England all our married life (some 14 years). However on the breakdown of our marriage I moved to Scotland (4 years ago) so am now classed as a Scottish citizen and governed by Scottish law (I think??). I do not think that divorce laws are that different between England and Scotland other than the fact that you can divorce after 1 year separation in Scotland but you have to wait 2 years in England (but as we have been separated 4 years I don't see this matters).

So in short will the Scottish/English thing cause a problem? and Does anyone have experience of 'online DIY Divorces'?

Many thanks:)

con_fused

I'm not sure if this would cause a problem but there is no harm in ringing one of the companies and asking them.

My divorce is with divorceonline.co.uk and was uncontested and it's taken about 6 months. They are really helpful and depending on how much help with the forms you need, determines how much you pay.

The package I used was the Managed Divorce and Clean Break which was £304 and worth every penny in my opinion - I didn't want to risk filling the forms out incorrectly so they send you templates/factfinding forms and then complete the paperwork for you. The divorce/reasons for the divorce have to be agreed by both parties though.

I'm sure others on here will be able to clarify your situation though as I am not sure.

Hope things work out for you x

mackemdave

Divorce laws are different in England and Wales....have a look at https://www.ondivorce.co.uk there are some forums,under the community heading.Register and post your questions on there....some very knowledgable people post there.

Gloomendoom

I did a diy divorce. It worked out fine... but there were no children involved.

As I understand it, and I am no solicitor, as long as you meet the requirements of the law in Scotland you can initiate divorce proceeding there. If your OH wants to initiate proceedings in England you will have to satisfy the requirements of English law.

The children may be a problem though. I know somebody who was forbidden to take her children out of England and Wales... which was a problem as they were all Scottish and so couldn't visit their relatives. I can't remember the details as it was a long time ago.

Before you commit yourself online, I think you would be well advised to pay for an hour with a solicitor that specialises in family law. It could be cheaper and less stressful in the long term.

Mrs_justjohn

con_fused wrote: »

I'm not sure if this would cause a problem but there is no harm in ringing one of the companies and asking them.

My divorce is with divorceonline.co.uk and was uncontested and it's taken about 6 months. They are really helpful and depending on how much help with the forms you need, determines how much you pay.

The package I used was the Managed Divorce and Clean Break which was £304 and worth every penny in my opinion - I didn't want to risk filling the forms out incorrectly so they send you templates/factfinding forms and then complete the paperwork for you. The divorce/reasons for the divorce have to be agreed by both parties though.

I'm sure others on here will be able to clarify your situation though as I am not sure.

Hope things work out for you x

Thank you

We have all our finances etc..tidied up and finalised - that was all taken care of in our separation agreement.

Mrs_justjohn

mackemdave wrote: »

Divorce laws are different in England and Wales....have a look at www.ondivorce.co.uk there are some forums,under the community heading.Register and post your questions on there....some very knowledgable people post there.

Thanks I'll have a look tonight:)

Mrs_justjohn

Gloomendoom wrote: »

As I understand it, and I am no solicitor, as long as you meet the requirements of the law in Scotland you can initiate divorce proceeding there. If your OH wants to initiate proceedings in England you will have to satisfy the requirements of English law.

Yes that was my understanding of it as well. My OH doesn't want to initiate (in other words PAY!) so it is left to me, so it will be filed under Scottish Law. I think the only difference it that under Scottish law it can be filed sooner (not that this is relevant as we have been separated for over 4 years!)

The children may be a problem though. I know somebody who was forbidden to take her children out of England and Wales... which was a problem as they were all Scottish and so couldn't visit their relatives. I can't remember the details as it was a long time ago.

I am not sure this will be a problem for me. I moved to Scotland with the kids 3 years ago (1 year after OH and I separated). OH still see's the kids - he comes up 4 times a year and I go down 3 times a year. He has them at Xmas and for a week in the school hols so he can take them away. It is all amicable, and despite the fact he was obviously upset about me moving the kids 400 miles away he didn't try and stop me then, so I am not sure he can force me to move back 3 years later?? Anyway I think he has accepted that the kids are now settled in Scotland and given the choice they wouldn't want to move back!

Before you commit yourself online, I think you would be well advised to pay for an hour with a solicitor that specialises in family law. It could be cheaper and less stressful in the long term.

Thanks for your advice:)

Becles

If you are able to fill in the forms yourself, you can just pick them up from the court offices and do it yourself. All you would pay is the statutory court fees.

I did it in England using the court forms and only paid the statutory fees. The whole process was quick and simple and it only took a few months. That was with children involved too.

Mrs_justjohn

Becles wrote: »

If you are able to fill in the forms yourself, you can just pick them up from the court offices and do it yourself. All you would pay is the statutory court fees.

I did it in England using the court forms and only paid the statutory fees. The whole process was quick and simple and it only took a few months. That was with children involved too.

Thanks for that - I do believe the divorce itself will be simple - uncontested with no fighting and arguing. Ebverything is already finalised in a legal separation agreement so I think it is just a case of filing out the forms and submitting the separation agreement?

Puzzledbubbles

Hey

thanks for posting on my thread Hopefully we can help each other lol

I have all of the forms and things on my computer with guidance notes from one of the english online companies - if you would like me to email them to you please pm me

Puzzled xx

maureenq37

I used Divorceonline.co.uk who also provide a Scottish divorce service. It cost £195 plus some court fees of about £300 and saved a huge amount compared to what lawyers were quoting me. Everything was done by e-mail with very prompt service and it was so easy to follow. It took about 3 months and every question I asked was answered quickly and patiently (some of my questions were pretty stupid!). I think I saved at least £600 using them so I highly recommend them.