DIY Divorce

this_time_next_yr_Rodders

I know there is probably an urban ledgend, but I've heard stories of DIY Divorces, but I've not found any sites that can offer this. I have spoken to my solicitor and he recons it would cost me at least £3500. I can't afford that! We have a Deed of Seperation that outlines financial obligations etc and the custody of our child is with me via this and an ongoing arrangement between me and my ex.

Has anyone done this or could point me in the right direction please?

mattogier

this_time_next_yr_Rodders wrote:

I know there is probably an urban ledgend, but I've heard stories of DIY Divorces, but I've not found any sites that can offer this. I have spoken to my solicitor and he recons it would cost me at least £3500. I can't afford that! We have a Deed of Seperation that outlines financial obligations etc and the custody of our child is with me via this and an ongoing arrangement between me and my ex.

Has anyone done this or could point me in the right direction please?

I did my own divorce - cost me nothing - nothing at all.

I waited for all "her" papers to come to me, looked em over - made notes about what I thought should not be in there, wrote my response to her solicitor and then booked my FREE session with a local solicitor who looked it all over, made a couple od suggestions and off we went.

I am sure there are loads of webistes and forums out there now to help too.


Goodluck

evilwitch

You can get the forms direct from the court and fill them in yourself. You then return them to the court and only have to pay court fees which are £300 to initiate then a fee for the absolute.

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

Becles

I got the forms from court and only paid the court fees.

Make sure you get a financial consent order (clean break order) too. It means neither party can ever claim on the other persons finances again. Useful, especially if you come into money through an inheritance, lottery win etc.

howdumbarewe!

When I was in WH Smith's recently I was looking at the DIY wills and noticed there was a DIY Divorce pack. I think it was about £15ish. I looked at it as my brother-in-law is thinking about a divorce and it said that it had all the details which you needed + forms etc. Don't know if they are any good but maybe it's worth looking at.

Stargirl_3

The only costs we had for our divorce were the court costs which are unavoidable. But we had agreed all financials, access etc and the split was very amicable so as far as we were concerned had no need to pay for a solicitor. The costs were about £300 which my ex paid.

Alternatively, there is mediation which is meant to be cheaper than solicitors but still costs about £150 per session. You can get fixed fee legal advice at a solicitor for about £50 which would be worth taking but as long as you both agree to everything then I dont always see the need to get solicitors involved.

TrikerAndBiker

this_time_next_yr_Rodders wrote:

I know there is probably an urban ledgend, but I've heard stories of DIY Divorces, but I've not found any sites that can offer this. I have spoken to my solicitor and he recons it would cost me at least £3500. I can't afford that! We have a Deed of Seperation that outlines financial obligations etc and the custody of our child is with me via this and an ongoing arrangement between me and my ex.

Has anyone done this or could point me in the right direction please?

Well it certainly isnt an 'urban legend' although I am sure most solicitors wished it was! lol

I did my own divorce about 5 years ago. Found a site on the web where I could download all the forms and it even walked you through filling them in. It really is quite simple so long as the divorce is amicable!. If there is any doubts over legal custody, access, splitting of effects etc then do please seek legal advice. A small outlay for a session with a solicitor to cross the t's and dot the i's could save a fortune in the future.

Ladybiker

mags24

Likewise, I did a DIY divorce in 2000. I think I got most of the information from here: http://www.divorce-online.co.uk/. As the others have said, you can download the forms from the Court Service, fill them in, take them back to your local court and just pay the court fee. This is all fine as long as you are both happy with whatever terms of agreement you have arrived at. If either side feels they are being railroaded into agreeing something, then yes, get a free session at a solicitors. They will probably try and talk you into the full deal.

I'm sure divorces that involve solicitors are more protracted and bitter though, so if you can come to an agreement, do.

Good luck

amandada

I did a diy divorce about 14 years ago-at that time it only cost the court fee which I think was about £75

I'm in Scotland, and the criteria which had to be met at that time were
1 no children of the marriage
2 neither party making a maintenance claim

Best money I ever spent!;)

Becles

howdumbarewe! wrote:

When I was in WH Smith's recently I was looking at the DIY wills and noticed there was a DIY Divorce pack. I think it was about £15ish. I looked at it as my brother-in-law is thinking about a divorce and it said that it had all the details which you needed + forms etc. Don't know if they are any good but maybe it's worth looking at.

These packs, and the online sites where you pay to download the forms, just have the same forms in that you can get from the court office or download from the courts service website for free :money:

The court office staff will offer free guidance on how to fill the forms in if you need it, but they can't give any advice on the divorce itself.

ooo000ooo

My mates soon-to-be-ex-wife appears to be doing a DIY divorce. Unfortunately she's making a right pigs ear of it. She's already had to cancel her next wedding once due to her trying to put silly clauses into her small print. His solicitor has sent her paperwork back several times asking her to amend or remove the offending bits and has resorted to telling her exactly what she should be putting in. She's going to have to postpone her imminent wedding again due to her lousy paperwork and reluctance to seek proper legal advice. She's recently sent his solicitor a very childish letter full of foul language demanding the solicitor stops harrassing her which has annoyed his solicitor so much he's about to take her to court for contempt of court over another matter that was going to be left to be sorted out amicably.