That said, in this climate
costs for family law matters are a real issue and one that no doubt worries
clients as much as the process of Divorce itself.
There are some steps that you
can take to limit costs sensibly – by this I do not mean undertaking all of the
work yourself for, although people try to do so, I find that the majority
realise that whilst there might be some things that they can do themselves,
marital financial negotiations or proceedings concerning children involve
issues and arguments of which they are not fully aware or are ill-equipped to
deal with.
Frankly, dealing with the emotional
fall out of divorce and separation, day to day parenting, your job and simply
functioning is probably quite enough – the following pointers, however, might
just help you when it comes to limiting the costs:
1. Write down
the history
This may sound like an awful
lot of work but actually it can be very helpful and will avoid lengthy meetings
with your Solicitor to tell them the information. In terms of the Divorce
proceedings themselves, you might be considering the option of petitioning on
the basis of your spouse’s behaviour – in that case you will need to provide
details of such behaviour (all of which you can set out now). At the very
least, it should allow any Solicitor to advise you whether a behaviour petition
is an option. In addition, when it comes to dealing with your marital finances
it will be necessary for your Solicitor to know if there are any issues as
regards your financial contribution towards assets, whether they were inherited
or gifted, whether they were accrued from a business etc. etc.
Setting out the history –
both of the relationship and the assets at the outset will ensure that you are
off on the right foot. Many clients of mine tell me, having undertaken this
exercise at my request, that they had forgotten things that came to mind
because they were focussed on this task – much better to remember earlier on in
the process!
2. Find a
Solicitor offering a free initial consultation
You should have a good choice
in today’s legal market with many firms offering free initial consultations. It
is important to use this time to work out whether you can work with the
Solicitor, whether you like the “feel” of the firm and obtain as much advice as
you can as regards your next steps.
3. Do some of
the paperwork yourself
When I referred above to clients
undertaking some of the work themselves, I was referring to the more
paper-based exercises – where no real legal expertise is necessary. The Divorce
proceedings (by which I mean the paper-based main suit proceedings that take
you from “married” to “divorced”) are a classic example.
This process is (as recently
one judge put it) administrative and, whilst there are a couple of areas that
you may need guidance on – the forms themselves are straightforward and
designed to allow non-lawyers to complete them.
Solicitors may quote between
£600-£800 + VAT for completing the forms and dealing with the process for you
(liaising with the court etc.) and indeed in terms of time (assuming an hourly
rate of £200 per hour) this would be about right. If you are, however, prepared
to spend your own time (for which I assume you will not charge!) then you may
be able to save some money in the process.
Many clients simply do not
have the time or inclination to undertake the paperwork themselves and are
content to instruct me to do so but I do have more clients nowadays taking the
view that they would rather spend money on me negotiating their marital
finances – which is a much more complex area – than form-filling – fair enough!
Solicitors may, myself
included, offer a bespoke fee arrangement if you wanted to complete the forms
yourself but wanted them checked by the Solicitor – which would see a reduced
fee. That, it seems to me, brings you the best of both worlds.
When you come to dealing with
financial negotiations – do as much of the chasing around for documentation as
you can yourself. Contacting banks, credit card companies, lenders, estate
agents etc. all takes time but if you can obtain the information yourself, as
opposed to your Solicitor having to write out for it that will help limit your
costs.
4. Beware fixed
fees
Fixed fees are fine and I do
think they offer certainty and that they will become more common as we go
through this year and into next.
I was always told to read the
small print – probably something to do with my legal training! – this is
exactly what you must do.
There is a difference between
what a lawyer means by “Divorce” (the paper-process, main suit that takes you
from married to divorced) and what a person on the street would understand by
such a word (usually the entire thing – financial negotiations and child
arrangements included).
There is nothing underhand in
the fixed fee offerings by solicitors and all the ones I have seen have
carefully worded small print explaining that the Court fees are extra and that
financial negotiations or issues concerning children are excluded from the fee.
Just be aware that the offer
might not be what you would expect on the basis of your understanding of the
word “Divorce”.
5. Consider
Mediation alongside legal advice
Mediation should be discussed
with you by any Solicitor and since early 2011 attendance at a Mediation
Information and Assessment Meeting has been mandatory, save in excepted
circumstances (for example where there is Domestic Violence etc.)
The benefit of Mediation,
where parties are prepared to engage fully in the process, should not be
underestimated and I have seen couples negotiate fair and sensible settlements,
reduce the length of their matter and remain amicable and able to discuss
issues concerning the children going forward.
The benefit in successfully
negotiating a settlement through Mediation, as far as costs are concerned, is
obvious in that Court proceedings will not be necessary and any work that the
Solicitor needs to do following the agreement will be limited to drafting the
necessary paperwork and implementation of the agreement itself.
There is a cost to Mediation
sessions but when you consider the length of sessions and the ability to make
decisions quickly, as both parties are present, this is still a cost effective
approach.
Legal advice should always be
sought alongside Mediation sessions to make sure that discussions take account
of any important legal issues. If this doesn’t happen it sometimes leads to a
situation in which parties consider that an agreement has been reached but in
fact the agreement is unfair to one party and may not be upheld by the Court,
or that party, on taking legal advice, withdraws from the “agreement”.
6. Be pragmatic
– don’t let your emotions take over
Negotiation is one area where
you will see your costs rocket if you are not careful. Arguing over the
principle of a matter is great but be prepared to spend money. I’m not saying
that your points and arguments shouldn’t be raised but take advice from your Solicitor
about the strength of your arguments – push the stronger ones (this is where
trust in your Solicitor is important). Don’t lose sight of the monetary value
of your arguments – if you are £5,000 apart, don’t spend the same amount
arguing the toss – split the difference!
Above all know what you want
to achieve – for some it will be for the paperwork and process to be taken off
their hands – at whatever cost. For others it will be to limit the costs as far
as possible, even if that means taking on more of the work themselves. Be
honest with your Solicitor at the outset and discuss the issue of costs in
detail and at the start.
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