Divorce on the cards.

Hi all,
I'm in my mid 30's with 2 kids and waiting for my letter to be served.
Wifes in our house with the kids and i'm kipping on my mates sofa. Roll on Christmas ! hehe.
I haven't looked for a solicitor yet as i dont know her demands so once i have letter in hand i'll trot off to a legal eagle and see where i stand.
Anyone any advice at this point as to solicitors ? what should i be looking for ? should the solicitor be on my doorstep for easy access and easy pestering or should i be more concerned with using a big firm or a more personal touch ? Anyone know any good solicitors in the Lancashire area ? St Helens, Wigan, Skemersdale, Preston ?
any advice would be appreciated at this point.

Hi Germandy. My personal pref as regards to solicitors is women. I think they make great sols. They can be totaly heartless and you need someone that will not try and pull the wool over. Have a look at the local sols websites in yr area. Choose one that has been doing it for a fairly long time and try and get a free half hour with them. At the end of the day you need to be able to relate to them as you will be spending a lot of dosh on them. Bon Chance, C

Work out your finances first,what you are dividing financially.if it's worth arguing over?
Pretty much if you've left your kids with your wife she'll get more like 70/30 split on the overall pot.

Thanks for the replies, yes i will look for a female solicitor if its viable.
As far as the split pot is concerned, we have 2 properties, one in the UK and one abroad. I am happy to let her have the property in UK but she is under the impression i will have no choice but to sell the property abroad which is worth the same as the profit thats in the UK property. Is the total worth taken into consideration or just the equity ?
To put it another way, If the property abroad is valued at 100k and thats all equity, and the family home in UK is worth 200k but with a 100k mortgage, Will the court say the pot is 200k or 300k ? I've yet to speak to a solicitor as i'm still waiting for my letter to be served. I'm sure they'll tell me but i thought i'd ask anyway.
another question is will all loans and credit cards be taken into consideration regardless of whose name they are in ?