Do I even need a solicitor

[19Bears]

I'm sorry if this is going over old ground, I haven't been on this board before. I told dh two years ago that I was very unhappy, and without spelling out that I wanted to split, he knows this is what I'm thinking of. The thing is, I wanted to get some legal advice regarding me being able to stay in the family home with the children and ask dh to move out, and all the other relevant practicalities before I say to him, "this is it I want to separate." But, I am finding it so hard to find a solicitor who isn't full and not taking any new clients, or isn't charging around £200 for an hour on the phone. This is paralysing me as I feel I can't move forward with any certainty over how things will work. I feel like I'm floundering in the dark. Any advice would be great, thank you.

Unless you completely agree on the house, other assets and childcare split then you do need one.

I did mine myself but we agreed he’d keep the house and what he’d pay me to sign it over and we didn’t have children. I did all the paperwork online and paid the fee, about £500 at the time and the best money I’ve ever spent.

Yours will be much more complicated so you need proper advice. It’s worth doing properly, these decisions will impact massively on yours and your children’s lives.

£200 an hour on the phone is much less than it’ll cost you if you make bad decisions on the split of assets!

Echo what pp have said.

Even if you self represent you really do need legal advice on where you stand, what your options are, what might be a reasonable settlement etc.