Solicitor managed divorce

If you are considering getting a divorce and wish to instruct us to deal with the divorce proceedings on your behalf, then we will handle your divorce from start to finish, without your having to worry about anything. We will prepare all the documentation required, liaise with you, the court, and your spouse or his/her solicitors.

There is no such thing as a “quickie divorce”. Depending on the court, and assuming that your spouse cooperates with the proceedings, then the whole process will normally take approximately from 4 to 6 months.

Please however note that the financial matters and any issues relating to the children have to be dealt with entirely separately from the divorce. The court will not deal with the division of the assets (capital, property, income, pensions etc) between the parties, nor will it give you a “clean break” within the divorce proceedings.

The financial matters will have to be resolved separately, either through mediation, negotiations through solicitors or in certain circumstances with court proceedings if an agreement cannot be reached amicably. It is therefore important that you also resolve the financial matters, even if there is little money in the “matrimonial pot” to avoid a situation where your spouse would make a financial claim against you in the future.

Even if the children live with you, the court will not intervene in respect of any residence or contact issue for the children. Where the children will live and when they see the non-resident parent will therefore have to be dealt with separately. Please see our Children leaflet and Disputes involving a child/children.

Please note that the work for financial and children matters will be charged separately at our normal hourly rate. We would be happy to provide you with an estimate of fees if you wish to instruct us in relation to the financial matters and/or children issues.

If you require further assistance on your financial or children matters, please speak to one of our family solicitors, Severine Vincent or Kate Booth on 01926 422 101, who have extensive expertise in those fields. Severine and Kate are both members of Resolution, which promotes a non confrontational approach to family problems and which requires Members to follow a Code of Practice.

Alternatively, you can email us at family@fieldoverell.com with your queries.

What the “Solicitors Managed Divorce” service includes:

Preparing your divorce papers (divorce petition/statement of arrangements for children) (if applicable).
Lodging your divorce papers with the court for issue.
Preparing your application for directions for trial, affidavit of evidence and exhibit in support of your application for decree nisi
Preparing your application for decree absolute
Liaising with you, the court and your spouse or his/her solicitors throughout your divorce,
Providing you with expert assistance and advice until you are divorced.
Email/telephone support to progress your matter

What the service does not include:

Representation and advice in defended divorce proceedings. If your divorce becomes contested, then we will provide you with a separate estimate of fees for the anticipated work to be carried out. This will be charged at our usual hourly rates.
Advice on financial matters, such as a clean break etc. There would be a separate charge for this calculated on our normal hourly rate.
Face to face meetings – If you wish to have a meeting with one of our family solicitors, then please contact our family team to arrange a mutually convenient appointment. There would be a separate charge for meetings based on our normal hourly rate.
Court attendances/hearings – if you ask the court to make an order that your spouse pays for the costs of your divorce and this is disputed, there may be a court hearing for the judge to decide whether a costs order should be made. We will give you an estimate of fees if you wish to be represented at a court hearing.
Translation fees in the event that your marriage certificate is in foreign language. The court will require not only the original marriage certificate but also a certified translation. A quotation will be obtained for your approval before the expense is incurred
Court fees (currently £385 which will be payable prior to being incurred) and £7 oath fee which will be payable when you swear your affidavit and exhibit in support of your application for decree nisi. This can however normally be done free of charge at any court office.
Process server service/ Bailiff Service of the Divorce papers upon your spouse, application for deemed service, dispense of service of substituted service. It may be necessary to have the papers served personally upon your spouse if he or she fails to return his or her acknowledgement of service to the court once he or she has received the divorce papers from the court or to make a separate application to the court. Please see our leaflet “service of documents and deemed service“.

How much will it cost?

Our costs

We will charge you a fixed fee of £695 + VAT (£834 in total) for the above service, which you can pay by cheque, transfer or debit/credit card. Please however note that there will be a 2% surcharge for credit card payments. If you wish to make a card payment, then this can be done when we first contact you. Alternatively, we can email you our bank details upon request to enable you to make a transfer.

Disbursements

The fixed fee does not cover disbursements which you will have to pay. These are as currently follows:

£340 mandatory court fee when you file your divorce petition and, if you have children, your statement of arrangements for children, with the court.
£7 oath fee when you swear your affidavit of evidence – NB this is however normally free of charge at court.
£45.00 court fee when you apply for your decree absolute – this will finalise your divorce.

We will give you an estimate of fees for anything you require, which is not included in the above service.

If you decide not to proceed but work has already been incurred, then we will charge you at our normal hourly rates up the maximum value of your purchase and refund any balance due to you.

Next step

Once you have ordered, we will contact you to complete your purchase. Once your purchase is completed, we will email you the relevant documentation to enable you to:

Download, complete and return our Divorce Questionnaire
Complete our Evidence of Identity Form which is at the back of the Divorce Questionnaire and return the required documentation along with our divorce questionnaire.
We will require you to provide us with your original marriage certificate to draft the divorce papers and issue your divorce as the court will not accept a copy.
We will progress your divorce on your behalf until conclusion and advise you throughout.

For further information, please contact one of our family solicitors, Severine Vincent or Kate Booth on 01926 422 101 or visit our Contact page. Alternatively, you can send Severine or Kate a message direct using departments contact form.