How much does it cost?

Can anyone please tell me roughly how much a 'simple' divorce will cost in solicitor's fees, for no children but mortgaged house to be sold and proceeds divided? thanks.

Madam, I'm afraid the question is like asking how long is a piece of string. The one thing that you can say is this.
The more money you spend on lawyers, the less there is for you and your x2b.

Your case sounds relatively straightforward, and the costs of ending a marriage and dividing the assets don't necessarily have to be expensive - not when you compare them to the expense of tying the knot, champagne receptions and all the paraphernalia.

The sort of thing that messes it up is when one party ( or sometimes both parties ) are being thoroughly unreasonable in their expectations. Some use the finances as a means of ' getting their own back ' for real or imagined misconduct, and all this is very good for lawyers' profits. Another common problem is when one party ( usually the wife ) suspects the x2b is ' hiding something ' ( which some people, unfortunately, do )
and go to all sorts of measures to discover the location of the buried treasure. That is good for private detectives !

You will find an article somewhere on this website about how you can save legal costs. The most practical is to try and resolve the financial issues by negotiation, or mediation, or collaborative law ( the article explains all these options ) and I hope you will find it a good start.

Mike 100468

Firstly a simple divorce is a rarity, usually one of the parties is not happy about it and whilst unable to actually stop the divorce may well hinder the financial split.

In terms of cost, let us assume that you both agree to the divorce, then one of you petitions for it and wait for the other to sign the acknowledgement, and then the petitioner applies for the Nisi and subsequently the absolute

Providing everything goes as planned, costs are £300 for the petition and £40 for the absolute.

Now, comes the interesting bit, during the divorce proceedings one of you needs to apply for 'ancillary relief' or you both come to an agreement to settle the division of all your assets

If you think the finances are going to run smoothly, then come to a sensible agreement and put that to the court with an application for a Consent Order

Providing everything is in order and appears to be fair on both parties a Judge should rubber stamp it and all is now in place and biding on both parties.

The cost of submitting the agreement for consent is very minimal about £40.

If one or either of you chose to use a solicitor for representation in the divorce proceedings expect to pay typically £500 on top

If one or either of you were to use a solicitor to represent you in the financial matters and an agreement is not reached, then typically expect costs for each of you to be in the region of £5000

The solicitors fees quoted are not clear cut, but they do typify should things not run smoothly

Can I ask something then ? So if x2b wont agree in mediation to my request for SM and it goes to court and I do get it ? that would mean there was no house to be sold so I wouldnt have any money to pay for solicitor ? What would I do then ? He would also be in the same situation ?
Also, does the one who applies for the divorce pay for the petition ?

Agoraphobic Annie

Have you tried all angles to obtain legal aid, does getting DLA qualify you

Below is a link with a legal aid calculator-

www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk/en/legalaid/calculator.jsp

You can find out if you qualify

They also have a useful free phone number 0845 345 4345, you register with them and the first 20 mins is free, from then on if you qualify they will provide further free telephone advice

If he won't agree in mediation you can assume he won't agree anything until you push it towards the courts

I've used the calculator and it says I am over. My salary plus my new benefits I have just been granted will put me over

Agoraphobic Annie

Ask the court for form "court fees do I have to pay them"

See if you qualify for exception from court fees, it is possible even though you may not qualify for legal aid

If you are excempted then you can ask your solicitor to submit the court paperwork and an exemption claim each time

Alternatively if you qualify you can complete the court forms yourself and submit them along with an excemption claim for each one

Just another option you can try

Good Luck