How much do divorce solicitors cost?

ulster_exile

My husband has just told me he does't love me "that" way any more and wants us to split up.

We have no children (just two dogs). He want this to be amicable and as easy as possible for me, so we'll continue living together for the time being. We just bought a house together in August which is a bit crap since I could have afforded the old one on my own. He wants to buy me out of this one and will speak to the Building Society about it tomorrow so I should walk away with about £25K for a deposit for another house.

Unfortunately, my income is considerably less than his and I will struggle on my own so I don't want to start out in debt by spending a fortune on a divorce! I don't want any of his pension benefits and we just want this to be as quick and easy as it can be without costing the earth.

So where do I start???

gratefulforhelp_2

Find a solicitor you are happy with, you could do without but it may be to your detriment.

Expensive, though, can be over £100 an hour.

rze1979

I am currently in the middle of a divorce and the fee my solicitors charge for a straight forward divorce is £1200:(

ulster_exile

Bloody hell. That's not what I wanted to hear though today appears to be truth day so it's par for the course. Thank you both.

Any useful tips on sorting an amicable divorce, or how to stop crying would be appreciated.

On the plus side, it's our 10th wedding anniversary in a couple of weeks time so I've saved on the price of a card and present I guess.

rze1979

The only up side about the cost is that he has agreed to pay mine as well as his own fees but that is because I am divorcing him due to his adultery - not sure if u can ask your other half to pay if its other circumstances.
Not many tips on staying amicable - I am struggling! Because we have small children we are trying to sort out their arrangements and the financial side without going through the courts cos thats very pricey I believe.
Not really an expert on this and still wondering how I got here in the 1st place:(
All the best with everything x

ellay864

Me and my ex went through mediation. You have one person, who acts independently with you in the room together. They talk through the finances, work out who could/should pay what and you come to an agreement amicably between you. The mediator facilitates the sort of discussions that solicitors could do for a fraction of the cost. They also advise you on what is and isn't legally permissible. At the end of it you draw up and sign an agreement which you can then get just 'rubber stamped' by a solicitor to finalise the divorce.
I'd recommend mediation to anyone where you're on relatively amicable terms and can bear to be in the same room - it saved us a fortune and was really straightforward...and in my case we had 2 young sons (8 and 6) to take into account

Mrs_justjohn

It is really best (and cheaper) if you and hubby can come to a financial agreement that you are both happy with and then see a solicitor just to make that agreement legal.

That is what ex and I did and it cost me about £150. It starts to get pricey when the solicitors argue the toss with each other!

ulster_exile

Just wanted to say thanks for the advice so far. We will try and see what we can do about finances in the first instance. I like the sound of mediation so will talk to him about it.

spykey_uk

I'm a divorce solicitor and I would always recommend clients who come to see me try mediation before working out the finances through solicitors. Mediation is often a much quicker and more cost effective way of resolving the differences, and then you can get it drawn up into an agreement (called a Consent Order) by a solicitor.

Good luck!

wannabe

My divorce should have been straight forward as there were no children involved just him - the ex husband. Prepare for the worst and then it can only be better.

My divorce cost me around £13k due to failed mediation, numerous letters which cost an arm and a leg, phone calls which cost more than phoning a premium rate number and just forgetting about the phone!, then an injunction and an extra court date he arranged due to the fact he thought he was being hard done by; this is after me giving him 3/4 of the furniture and £22k for the house! and to top it all I never told his family and friends the reason why I was divorcing him which could potentially would have been awful for him.

All in it cost me 2 and half years from the first meeting with my useless solicitor (Eric Robinson in Oct 07) to my absolute. I wouldn't mind but he was the bad guy in it. I am 34 with a scary loan and half a rainforest of Eric Robinson paperwork. I do struggle on my own but you will do it because you will make sure you do! He somehow managed to lie and get legal aid - he forgot he was earning money?!?

But that is now all behind me. I have learnt so much and am so much stronger than I ever was. I know I am going to be ok - there is that little part of me that hopes if karma is to be, then he will get his come uppance.
Good luck - you will be fine but it is a really tough time even if it is amicable. I would advise you to pay regularly to save getting an astronomical bill at the end. Also unrelated but a divorce support group is a good way to talk to people as friends can be lovely but unless they have been through it have no idea what you are going through.

littleme1982

You do not need to employ a solicitor to deal with a divorce for you. It will cost you £385.00 irrespective of whether you involve solicitors or not to deal with this for you - court fees that went up in September!

You can get forms either from court-service.gov.uk or from your local county court. As there are no children you will only need to fill in the divorce petition (just follow the notes for guidance that come with this form). Take it to court (with 2 copies) and your cheque made payable to "HMCS" for £340.00 and the divorce will get under way.

If its still relatively amicable between you and husband then you could split the court fees between you (or even let him pay them). You could divorce your husband on his unreasonable behaviour - you dont need to sling mud at him just list 6 reasons why you find his behaviour unreasonable - this is totally subjective.

I agree also with the comment above - try and use other services to settle your financial issues because if its not a big money case, and at the moment you are seeing more and more people divorcing and having extremely high incomes and debt but no assets.....!

If you are really not sure how to start with the forms I am sure solicitors in your local area would assist you with this for a one off no charge appt.

Hope this information is of help to you.