Start again DIY from pre 6th April 2022 ongoing divorce?

kensiko

Hoping for a bit of advice for an ongoing divorce.

Divorce proceedings started back in December 2020 with a current dispute with the solicitors used as they have done almost nothing as far as applicant can tell, in what should be a simple divorce.

The new D8 form Section 7.1 asks for any ongoing case numbers.  The only information given from a SAR from the solicitors is a filled in D8 form from 15th May 2021 and a 'Notice of Action/Change' dated 25th August 2021 with a case number on it.

Since then the applicant has been advised they can no longer go the route of 2 year separation and consent but instead through the 'unreasonable behaviour' which they both do not want to do.  5 year separated was not mentioned but that is a question for another day.

As this is still ongoing and a complaint has been filed and now escalated to the Legal Ombudsman, is it possible to 'start again' DIY or does the current proceeding (with it being a pre 6th April 2022) divorce still need to be continued or cancelled in some way?

Any and all information will be very gratefully received.

Thank you all.

AskAsk

the best people to ask would be your solicitor, or are you saying that your solicitor is the one you have complained to the ombudsman about?

kensiko

AskAsk said:

the best people to ask would be your solicitor, or are you saying that your solicitor is the one you have complained to the ombudsman about?

That is correct.  After over 3 years they haven't really been very active or helpful with their advice.  Complaint has been made and now escalated to Legal Ombudsman.

AskAsk

kensiko said:

AskAsk said:

the best people to ask would be your solicitor, or are you saying that your solicitor is the one you have complained to the ombudsman about?

That is correct.  After over 3 years they haven't really been very active or helpful with their advice.  Complaint has been made and now escalated to Legal Ombudsman.

I am looking at DIY divorce and I have done it myself for the divorce bit last week!  it is simple enough to do but the blooming online form is a bit of a mess because it comes up with stupid things that is very unclear, however I read through the paper application form, which is much clearer.

I had hoped to do the asset split myself as well but that is a bit too much to do by oneself unless you got virtually no assets, ha ha.  So I am going to instruct a solicitor to deal with the asset split but I am going to do a lot of the ground work myself so that it minimise the solicitor time as they charge per hour.

It may be best to pay a solicitor for advice about dropping the current divorce case and start a new one under the new rules as the new rules make divorce a lot simpler and if you both agree, you can now do a joint application, which we did and it was so easy and super fast.  Within an hour, I got the application submitted to the court!  The solicitor will be able to advise you on whether it is best to drop and do the divorce yourself under the new rules, but I think unless you got no money, you will still need a solicitor for the asset split.

my solicitor quoted me £250 + VAT per hour.  Another one quoted me £310 + VAT per hour.

VyEu

If theres a current old law divorce case law you would need to get that dismissed before you could do a new law one. But tbh even under the old law 'reasons' divorce, no one ever cared about what reason was used. It doesn't affect the financial split.

Finances are separate to the divorce process itself. You can get a final order/decree absolute and the financial claims remain live. Highly recommend seeing a solicitor for this to get an idea as to what your, and your ex's, position (even if just their starting position) is. Even if you agree a split outside of court, you need a draft consent order and a D81 to send to court. Do get a solicitor to do this, I've seen a few horror stories where the order hasn't been drafted properly and it's come back to bite one party.