Has anyone used Wikivorce? Has anyone used Brethertons? I have! Review Consent Order

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I have lifted the sections regarding Wikivorce from my other thread which logs the stages of my divorce. This thread will log how long it takes Bretherton's (the solicitors Wikivorce put you on to) to do the work. All I have asked them to do is a consent order. There are no negotiations, my as-of-today-ex-husband and I,have already agreed everything. So they only need to put our wishes forward.

[d1a1d1cross]

Strongly NOT recommended. I was advised to use Brethertons for a wikivorce by a third party. When getting divorced your mind is elsewhere so I naturally put trust in a solicitor. My experience. They do not reply to emails. EVER. They do not reply to phone calls, even when you make their secretary promise. EVER. They make continuous excuses as to why they have not done the work you are paying them for, such as "we are very busy." The simple solution is that you do not take on the work if you cannot provide the service. Their work is shoddy, (bad advice, did not advise correctly on property issues and errors on the paperwork) and whilst with the benefit of hindsight I should have checked up their reviews on here, I did not. It has got so bad that I my estranged wife and I have had to communicate on the matter, and are actually in agreement about one thing, and that is that Brethertons are totally useless. I have called and called, and complained to as many people in the company as is possible. They all say "yes, we are sorry, we value bla bla bla, and we will look into it." Please take your time and find a good solicitor.

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HELPME40 and d1a1d1cross. I have another thread on here logging the stages of my divorce in real time. I didn't use Wikivorce or any other solicitor for that. I applied for my divorce myself in January. For me, the divorce process was simple. On the 4th April we were divorced. I only used Wikivorce for my consent order.
Your divorce can take longer if you think you have to agree on finances and get your consent order sealed along with getting the decree absolute all at the same time. I know some people hold off on applying for the absolute until the finances have been sorted. As being divorced was my main concern, I didn't worry about the consent order until nearing the end of my divorce process. Someone also advised me not to apply for the absolute until my consent order had been sorted but as neither of us were asking for money off each other, it didn't really matter. The truth is, you can even apply for a consent order after you are divorced if you don't want to use the divorce itself as a negotiating tool. Unless you are wanting to stake a claim in your STBX's pension pot, then it has to be done before the absolute.
I don't know what either of your personal circumstances are but I really do feel for you both.

[Suzisweet]

use this company at your peril! My partner started divorce proceedings last year with these as they already had a legal separation this really should have been easy money for them, paperwork was completed and returned money's paid immediately on request, petition sent to the ex wife which she signed immediately and returned then nothing!!!!!!!!! For weeks !!! So we email again and again and again no replys then yay a reply with an attachment of a letter that should have been sent to my partner on the 6/12/13 so he rings them explaining that this letter is seven weeks late and has now delayed his petition and request for directions for trial going to court, he explains very politely that this is unacceptable as we have paid over £4,000 to get married in santorini in May 2014 remembering when we started this process it was nine months from the wedding so plenty of time as the divorce was not going to be contested and a legal separation already laid everything out clearly, he is reassured by the solicitor he spoke to there is no need to worry as the delay was their fault they would push everything through , here was should all laugh out loud !! So he signs said statement to support his petition and sends it registered delivery just in case! To this we receive another email informing us that everything has been sent to court and we await to here from the court however this is unlikely to be for 8 weeks or longer obviously backlog of cases in Rugby if I it takes eight weeks to get a petition looked at or a lot of crime that the courts are dealing with, we have rung them again and explained that we simply cannot wait this period of time as to get married in Greece all your paperwork has to be translated and registered with the Greek consulate and then sent on to the wedding venue prior to departure therefore I have one useless wedding dress that cannot be worn in this country my wedding has been ruined and I have lost £4,000 in the process due to the incompetence of this firm, i add as a footnote that my divorce was contested by my ex and took less time that this . We wrongly assumed that as my partner had a legal separation this would be a straight forward easy process and therefore we didn't need to throw a lot of money at solicitors fees however I since find out that these solicitors doing these quick divorces we emphasise the word quick here are being subsidised by the government so therefore a pretty lucrative area for any firm to get into I just need to now find out what the term quick means in the service level agreement between this firm and the central government needless to say I will be seeking compensation for money's lost but nothing can repair the damage of a destroyed wedding due to incompetence

[peedoff2012]

Again I would like to emphasise everyone else's views NOT to use Wikivorce!!

They are a complete shambles.

Brethertons are just as bad. I have had nothing but stress and issues through using them. The staff are very rude, make you feel like you are an inconvenience and also very judgmental.

Like the saying goes, you pay peanuts you get monkeys!!

[Confusedmotheroftwo]

I am now so confused and terrified about the whole process. My husband and I have been separated for over two years and I can't get him to sign my share of the former marital home to me. I have resorted now to divorce as the only way to force the sale the house (which he has rented out to tenant and keeps all the proceeds for himself).

What makes me most nervous is the feedback on brethertons. I was seriously considering using them but now not so sure. Particularly because they are not quick to respond. The last thing I need is added stress in dealing with a break up. Is the process any easier using a high street solicitor? Is a DIY divorce easier and shall I get a consent order through a solicitor?

Any help and advice would be most helpful in getting through this nightmare.

[Screenwipe]

A DIY divorce is easier if both sides can be trusted. If I was in your situation I would NOT use Bretherton's. It will cost you a lot more than it did me to use a local solicitor as I used Bretherton's, but at least you will be able to talk to someone face to face. Phone around some solicitors in your area, a lot do a free half hour session. It should give you a chance to ask a few questions. Good luck!

[tna14]

I would not recommend Bretherton's either. Did not go through Wikidivorce, but through a mediator who recommended them. total nightmare, we agreed all our arrangements 18 months ago, still trying to get the consent order right. They make so many errors - it's only me that picks them up - like getting financial details wrong, getting our agreement wrong when it's all set out in writing - and then they charge for making the corrections! take absolutely ages to do things that should take half an hour to sort out, so frustrating, such an awful service

[Confusedmotheroftwo]

Thanks you for your feedback, it is very helpful. Can anybody recommend a good, efficient and through solicitor that isn't too expensive either.

Also, I have another question, if my husband and I agreed to a divorce, can this go ahead straight away even thought we haven't agreed in child access and splitting finances.

Sorry it's like a mine field and I just don't know where to start with it all.

I don't know much about the law and the research I have done seems to confuse me even further.

I just want to know the the best way to go about things.

[dulcefarniente]

My exh's solicitor was like so many others listed by pp. She would send me forms to sign that were full of errors (admittedly signed by exh who clearly hadn't checked it). Simple things like not checking the appropriate box and dates that contradicted other information in the forms. I was forever sending back a full list of corrections and then getting a partly amended form back so that I then had to go back again and again until all the errors I had alerted them to were corrected. Noneof the errors were disputed.

Unless she was incapable of checking her work which seems unlikely, it must be just a way of generating income for her firm.

[Wikivorce]

This thread is now 3 or 4 years old. The issues experienced by a small number of clients in 2013/2014 was caused by the closure of a law firm that is now part of Divorce Online.

A fairer reflection of the much needed free advice and support that Wikivorce offers to 50,000 people every year is shown in this much more recent mumsnet thread.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/relationships/3166757-anyone-used-wikivorce

[Mumstheword50]

Yes, this thread is old, and I have read the comments on the newer thread too. I have to say, Wikivorce has been a useful site, with some good advice, but I disagree totally that the issues with Brethertons were limited to 2013/14 or to a small number of clients.

I really wish I had never used Brethertons. They hide behind the "we may take up to 10 days to deal with your query" meaning literally every email takes at least 10 working days (2 weeks) for any kind of reply - even the simplest reply.

The worst thing though was the drafting of the Consent Order. Our agreement was pretty straightforward, and I had more or less drafted it. It took the usual weeks and weeks to get it signed by me, (two weeks to send to me, one day to send back, two weeks to send to my husband one day to send back, two weeks to acknowledge receipt, two weeks to send to the court . . you get the picture). They warned me there would be a delay of up to 10 weeks at that point. After 12 weeks I emailed for an update. They had of course received the papers from the court three weeks earlier - when would I know had I not emailed? Worst of all was that the judge had said that whole sections were "meaningless and completely unenforceable". I would at least have assumed that I was paying for and getting a document drafted in a legally acceptable way. I am now back to the 2-weeks to redraft, 2 weeks to email to me, 2 weeks from me saying "fine" for them to send me the written copy to sign (I signed and returned in one day), two weeks before they sent it to my husband to sign, and now I'm waiting for them to tell me when they might possibly send it back to the court.

They have been utterly hopeless and I wish I had splashed more cash at the beginning and gone with a firm that were professional, customer-centred and knew how to draft a legal document. Caveat emptor.

[MissTeBe]

I must be an exception

I used brethertons and I can’t sing their praises high enough

They did exactly what they were supposed to do and were extremely helpful with extra questions if I phoned them up

My divorce took from March - Dec 2017.......with much of that time being caused by my ex refusing to sign the paperwork

His legal bill was much higher than mine in the end despite it being me paying the court costs

[AForest]

I used Wikivorce and spoke to Ian who was incredibly helpful and supportive. I felt totally trapped and didn't know how to start proceedings. I am using Brethertons and they have been fabulous so far. They have also provided a telephone counsellor who has been a great support.

[AllMyDays]

Anyone know if
1)wikivorce and brethertons now any better
2) who to go with when ALL bills will be on credit card 🤔🙄

[AllMyDays]

@Confusedmotheroftwo
Did you get sorted?
Can you recommend someone?