Anyone represented themselves in family court?

[Lishsbemd]

Posting here for traffic

Just wanting to see if anyone here had been to family court without a solicitor and just represented themselves?

I've spoken to a solicitor but the fees I would have to pay could run into the tens of thousands and I just can't afford it.

I have read that family court is more accessible for people representing themselves, just looking for anyone who can share their experiences of that?

I wouldn’t. You won’t understand the process or anything.

Yes, I have, for a child arrangement order

@Catsandbikes can you talk about about your experience? Was the process difficult to navigate? Did you get the outcome you wanted?

I did. In the event the solicitor engaged by ex seemed to do her cause more harm than good.
I was asking for more time with DD.
I got everything I asked for (and a bit more).

The process is generally more than one hearing, with a lot of waiting around and adjournments and general time wasting which can wear you down.

Ex's lawyer was a bit rubbish - he said he didn't want to disadvantage or trick me, then tried to introduce some "evidence" that hadn't been mentioned at all up to that point. Lucky for me I knew he wasn't supposed to do that and said so.

It's a horrible process, but if I had to do it again I wouldn't waste money being represented by a lawyer.

I did pay a lawyer for advice and one thing she advised was that representing myself in family court would be ok.