How much does a divorce cost?

[Personanongrata80]

I know it's a how long is a piece of string question but roughly how much would I expect to be paying out to get a divorce. We have two children and a mortgaged house. He won't engage in any discussion at the moment so it may take a while to get things going. If he can be reasonable and enter discussions I would like to work together for the sake of the kids rather than dragging things out in court. So hopefully that would keep things simple. Any advice appreciated.

If you can be amicable and go on an 'internet' divorce site to get the various forms and info I think around 1,000 is feasible.
Avoiding solicitors as much as possible is key.
Look at Wikivorce for ideas.

Thanks. If there were no kids involved I would definitely be wanting to do that. But am worried we wouldn't know how to divide assets fairly and work out maintenance with a diy divorce. Or are there clear guidelines out there? Have just started to look at this and feeling overwhelmed.

My step mum divorced my dad recently. It was protracted with mediation and two years of arguing over assets. It cost her £7.5k. Worth every penny as dickhead dad had to pass over a lot. Shit hot lawyer deserves every single penny. If you are after a property or part of a pension cheapest is not always best.

Ive paid £650 for mine but he won't sign the papers so it was £650 wasted. I could fight it but I can't afford to. 🐷

DH divorced 6 years ago, relatively simple divorce cost 3.5k. That was with a discount from Solictor, there was a pension to divide, a child and house to sort.
Letters back and forth cost £150, consent order drafted, sent back and forth between Solictors a few times and before you know it 3.5k later!!

Divorce. £500 + vat and court fee £550

Finances - agreement and draft papers only £450 + vat £50 court fee
Solicitors reaching agreement £2000 + vat

Court £3 - £10k plus vat

Thanks all. Looks like it could be a little more than I was expecting. Might need to save up

Is legal aid not possible now, i didnt pay anything for mine, baring in mind it was a very long time ago

I don't think I would qualify as not on a very low income.

My understanding is that divorce itself is relatively cheap, essentially the cost of filing - around £550 I think, it seems to largely be a form filling exercise. I have completed all of the initial documentation quite easily myself. My intention is then to seek legal advice/services for the consent order which I think is essential to ensure that you both get a fair deal when it comes to the division of assets. I initially had a fixed fee consultation with a solicitor so I already know that there is a formula that can be used to calculate the division of your pensions for example. As I have limited funds I've made the decision to focus what I do have on the things I will need help with. Have a look at 'Intelligent Divorce' too, they have a step by step guide to completing the paperwork and also an alternative form which helps you list all of your expenses in preparation for completing the form E. Good Luck.

Thank you. I clearly have quite a bit of research and reading up to do. I have spoken to 2 solicitors and they have both been very cagey about what the total cost will be. It's all very well telling me cost per hour but if I have no idea how many hours of their time will be needed it's impossible to even have a vague guess at how much it will be overall.

Well I think it's very easy for costs to quickly mount up, solicitor quoted me £200 to send a letter to husband staying that I wanted a divorce as he doesn't take me telling him verbally seriously - needless to say I never had it written ! I also got recommendations for mediators, costs were over £200/hour plus vat with initial consultation expected to take 2 hours.
I am really hoping for a reasonably amicable divorce and will try and be fair whilst protecting mine and the childrens interests, we have few assets, our house, my pension and our 2 cars. Unfortunately I have a very reluctant husband to divorce, sort of passive aggressive with an ostrich head in the sand mentality. I am definitely going to do whatever I can to try and keep costs down but inevitably professional advice is going to cost. Hopefully being prepared for meetings and doing as much 'donkey work' as possible myself will help, I am only at the beginning of the road though.

JohPa your husband sounds similar to mine! Hopefully he will see sense and try and keep as much money for the benefit of our children rather than both of us handing it over to lawyers.

Mine was about 100 and dps is about 198.

We are in Scotland and done the diy divorce

I have paid £120 for the initial 1.5hr consultation and £550 for court application.

Big thing for me is that again my ostrich STBXH doesn't see why he has to disclose his finances to me, and why I just won't accept that he is selling OUR jointly owned house (50/50 split) and keeping all his pension and thousands in redundancy.

My solicitor has had to send a couple of letters asking for him to complete Form E.

Jimmysmum. If he won't sign you don't have to fight it. You can get a process server to personally serve the papers and make a declaration to the court. It's what I did and cost me £70. My ex has never signed or agreed to the divorce