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Divorce/separation

Is it possible to get a consent order without using a solicitor?

4 replies

MirandaWest · 10/10/2013 17:53

XH and I are getting divorced, which we are doing without using a solicitor. The financial side is basically a case of transferring some of his pension to mine to even things up as there are no other assets involved. As the amounts are relatively small, there is no point in having actuarial reports which would add to the cost.

I have been to see a few solicitors and thought you had to have a solicitor to draw up the consent order but XH feels it is possible to do this ourselves. I had hoped he would pay half the solicitors fees and that we would split the cost of the fee from his pension company for the transfer but as he has "no money" I am sensing this may not be the case. I am prepared to foot the bill (we did at least split the cost of the divorce).

Is it possible to draw up a consent order without a solicitor or should I stick to my original plan? I realise there are services provided online such as wikivorce but I think I would prefer to be able to have a local solicitor.

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Noregrets78 · 10/10/2013 22:55

I'm not an expert...
But I believe you need a solicitor to draw this up. You can save a fortune by agreeing everything yourself, but then for the consent order to be legally binding it has to be signed off by a judge. I understand the judge won't sign it off unless it's been drawn up by a solicitor.

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MirandaWest · 10/10/2013 23:04

Thank you - that is what I thought but XH was being his usual persuasive self and I was starting to doubt myself.

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celestialsquirrels · 10/10/2013 23:04

Consent orders are actually quite technical to get right. You are unlikely to produce one which will be in a state to be approved by a judge. You should be able to get a fixed fee for what is a defined piece of work from a local solicitor - get a few quotes and pick someone. For what you are suggesting it isn't more than about an hours work really.

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Lonecatwithkitten · 11/10/2013 14:18

My ExH and I have come to our financial agreement between us. My solicitor is drawing it up, it is roughly fair, maybe lightly in ExH's favour, but not far off.
My solicitor has taken great pains to tell me that this is NOT a rubber stamping situation. The judge may disagree and insist we go through the whole process.
Her words were 'just because you have agreed it does not mean the court will'.
This is just worth bearing in mind.