Such thing as an cheap mutually agreed quickie divorce?! Advice appreciated!

I-Owe-You

Afternoon all,

I hope I have posted this in the correct thread...

I need some advice regarding the cost of divorces at the request of my partner who isn't very computer savvy, and knows I am a regular user of this fab website! (I'm not the interfering new girlfriend - honest! :rotfl:)

My partner & his ex wife have been separated for just over 5 years, (it is all very amicable) they are wishing to get divorced as cheaply as possible but this is proving a little more difficult than hoped!

Does anyone have any advice or experiences they can share? ...Perhaps of the quickie divorce websites or of any services you can recommend? Both him and his ex have done some basic research and it appears despite these websites offering £100 "quickies", after reading the small print this total quickly quadruples into amounts neither parties can afford.

They have two children together (access arrangements and maintenance payments are already in place), and there are no other financial factors to consider. Due to the fact the situation is very amicable, and they mutually agree to end their marriage, they optimistically assumed finalising their divorce would be quite a straightforward & fairly uncostly process, but unfortunately this appears to not be the case!

If anyone has any advice to point them/us in the right direction it would be very much appreciated.

Merry Christmas!

IOU xx

RAS

They need to get the forms from the court and pay the required fees.

If there is no problems round ancilliary relief (the split of assets), there is no need to appoint solicitors or quickie companies. My boss did it herself (one child and ex owned a house)

danielley

Try here

http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/infoabout/divorce/index.htm

I just used the downloadable forms from HM Courts. I know it is a bit more tricky if you have children, but there are guidance booklets for every step of the forms.

Fees as listed on that site http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/ex50_e.pdf

Marriage and civil partnership proceedings
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]• Filing a petition, including for divorce, dissolution, annulment and [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]judicial separation - [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]£340[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]• Filing a second or subsequent petition with leave granted under [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]Family Proceedings Rule 2.6(4) - [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]£90[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]• Filing an answer to a petition or cross-petition - [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]£230[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]• Filing an amended petition - [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]£90[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]• Filing originating proceedings where no other fee is specified - [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]£230[/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]• Application to make a decree nisi, absolute (divorce), or a conditional [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]order, final (dissolution) - [/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Arial,Arial][FONT=Arial,Arial]£45[/FONT][/FONT]


I think for a straight forward divorce you pay £340 (petition) + £45 (dissolution)

Slinky_Malinky

I divorced my husband by filling out the forms from the court. We had amicably agreed all the details regarding money/maintenance/access to our son. This was 7 years ago and cost £180 for the petition and £30 for the degree absolute. Saw from the post above costs have gone up a bit but still cheaper than involving solicitors if you can avoid it.

ETA - my divorce only took 4 weeks to go through which I think is pretty darn quick.

clearingout

the only potential problem is making sure everythign is legally signed off and water-tight. Whilst it may well be amicable now, no one has any idea what the future holds and things can change - new partners particularly can throw something into the mix (on purpose or otherwise) which breeds animosity and problems.

The divorce itself is straight forward and they should be able to do this themselves using court paperwork - they could split the court costs. The split of assets is more complicated as there are children involved. Make sure they something is signed (if they're doing it mutually, a Consent Order is required) from a financial point of view so that neither side can come back in the future and claim from the other (it does happen). Some judges don't sign these orders off unless both parties have taken legal advice - however, it is perfectly possible to get advice free as many solicitors do a first half hour or appointment free of charge.

Is there property involved? Are there pensions? Any other capital worth arguing over at all?

pupsicola

When my ex and I got divorced we decided before approaching any solicitors how we would split our finances and sorted out access agreements with regards to the kids.

By doing this there were less letters written and communications between solicitors which kept costs down. It was realistic and fair so the court didn't throw it out and increase costs.

We kept our meetings with the solicitors very brief and wrote down our reasons for parting etc etc. Didn't phone them constantly or ask for updates on what was happening.

I saw my solicitor first in the June and was completely divorced by the October. Went through in record time due to the horrendous circumstances. No idea what it all cost as ex paid his and my solicitors fees (mainly out of guilt, but thats another story)