avoiding expensive lawyers

Hi I separated from my wife over 2 years ago. We have a signed Separation Agreement in place (drawn up by solicitors)following mediation,and now want to finalise the divorce process. We have no children. We have been quoted fees by a solicitor of 600 plus court fees of 400 - all subject to vat (although they said it could be less as we have no children, but wouldn't quote for this eventuality!) Am I correct in thinking this is a little steep?

Would really appreciate your thoughts, thank you

Rob

It depends what is involved. If you require a divorce - the 'getting unmarried' bit and a Consent Order formalising the separation agreement, the fees sound quite low to me.

The court fee to issue the Petition is £340, and a further £45 to issue the Decree Absolute. To obtain a consent order by consent also requires a court fee of £45.

The solicitors costs to deal with an undefended divorce are usually around 4 hours at their hourly rate. Similarly, if you need a consent order, the order has to be drafted and agreed between the parties and lodged at court. A judge will hopefully agree to the terms of the order which should be the case with your agreement.

The way to avoid "expensive lawyers" is to not instruct any. If you require their assistance - which is backed by professional indemnity insurance if they make a hash of it - is to pay for it. If you feel that the fees are too steep - you can do it yourself.

Personally, I would instruct lawyer particularly as you do not appear to have any disputes and to ensure that the job is done properly in the shortest time possible.

Charles

Some, not all, lawyers are expensive.

The figure you quote is actually fairly competitive for a local solicitor (if it includes the full divorce and financial agreement).

Or alternatively, thanks to having low overheads, and some government and charity funding, Wikivorce can offer the same service (also fully managed by an experienced solicitor) for £279 (incl VAT) plus of course the £430 court fees.

Solicitor Managed Divorce and Consent Order

Hi. My position was the same and I received an invoice for £1,113 which I paid. However, I have since received a further invoice for over £1,000 for preparing the consent order with pension sharing annex (2 hours 18 minutes). Seems high, particularly as my ex wife was originally quoted £600 for divorce costs. Obviously there are two processes here, but I was not made aware of this at the outset and I am responsible for costs of implementing financial settlement which contained an order for costs against me.

Has any one any thoughts on challenging this, or would I be best off calling it a day and moving on?

Kind regards

Rob

£1,000 for a CO and PSA sounds about average for a high street solicitor.

Divorce costs would only cover the cost of the actual divorce (petition, etc), and not any financial orders.

In this case it seems that robg consented to an order for costs against himself. This is almost a blank cheque for the solicitor dealing with the implementation.

£1000 odd doesn''t seem too bad to me but I deal with these matters all day long. Was the invoice directed to you, robg, personally or to your wife but payable by you?

Charles

That is very helpful, thank you.