Choosing a family law solicitor

[itscomplicatedlife]

I need advice re divorcing, how do I best select a family law solicitor, are there any online or would you advise to use local?? I have abs no idea on this thank you!!

I would use the best you can find locally. If you look online at a directory like the Legal 500 or Chambers it will show good individuals and good firms in your area.

Thank you! I'll try those thanks a lot 🙏

I recommend only using resolution solicitors. They are interested resolving conflict instead of extending it. www.resolution.org.uk

@lonelydad2021 thats great thank you! I def want to end this not extend, I've found one I think that specialises in this I'll double check but seek these ones out thanks!!

She's a resolution accredited specialist!

She sounds expensive 🤦‍♀️

Choose a small local firm. With not many staff /clerks. Processes may be a bit slower, but it'll be a whole lot cheaper.

Don't go with big named/branded firms - they'll just string you along.

Stick within your means/within what you will get out of the separation x

250 pounds an hour is the normal amount a good family law solicitor will.charge. Depending on your case, you can do a lot of things yourself. Google Advicenow. There are a lot of self guides there.

Do it yourself. The petition does not need a solicitor. And you can both massively reduce costs if you can be civil, sensible and honest to work out a consent agreement,
I am writing this on this board nearly every week. Read up on process forms, and what parts you really should have solicitor for and bits you might, and bits you don’t need.
I’ve posted so many time so look back through some of these…
You can use a cheap local solicitor, any, if you just use for essential bits.

If you have to go to mediation then you are already racking up big bills- whoever is driving that in terms of anger, lack of compromise, vengeance or whatever is still going to end up in same place as they will if you inform yourselves of how the courts make settlements ( 10 ish criteria) and work it out yourselves.

@MayMorris Thank you so much this is so helpful!!! I figured out we could do the papers for divorce ourselves online and we are being amicable thankfully and decided not to bother with mediation whjch is good!! My concern is getting the consent order so basically whatever we agree on is sealed by a court so it's clean finish and there is no comeback for either of us down the line. Do We each need a solicitor from the get go for this and all the way through or just partially, we obv don't want to spend loads on this but realise it's the right way also to do it properly.?? Thank you so much!

[quote itscomplicatedlife]@MayMorris Thank you so much this is so helpful!!! I figured out we could do the papers for divorce ourselves online and we are being amicable thankfully and decided not to bother with mediation whjch is good!! My concern is getting the consent order so basically whatever we agree on is sealed by a court so it's clean finish and there is no comeback for either of us down the line. Do We each need a solicitor from the get go for this and all the way through or just partially, we obv don't want to spend loads on this but realise it's the right way also to do it properly.?? Thank you so much! [/quote]
Re consent order….
The way we did it was

1. We both read up and printed out and filled out the Form E and D81
2. We then agreed how to split
3. We wrote out our non legal draft- it actually included an equation as we found that easiest to calculate how the house proceeds would be split given we didn’t know final sale price at time 🤣
4. I (as I was petitioner) went to a solicitor and instructed them to draft the consent based on our draft. And to submit it to the courts after Nisi granted. I’m not sure if layperson can actually submit the legal draft themselves.
5. My solicitor drafted, sent to me and ex for review
6. My ex then paid for 30 mins with ano solicitor to go through the draft and ensure he knew what he was signing. You don’t have to do that, but I read it was advised as the court will look for both parties to have taken legal advice
7. My solicitor added the name of ex solicitor to the drafts so courts would see this
8. They then forwarded final drafts to us for signing. We signed and didn’t date as dates get added after NISI which solicitor added for us both as they submitted to courts
9. I sent everything back and waited

10. After Nisi I let solicitor know it had been granted and asked them to ensure draft was submitted for decree final on xxx date 11. And it all happened …..

Both of you showing you have used solicitors to the court means they are less likely to come back asking for clarification on the detials of your consent, particularly if split isn’t absolutely 50:50 or some of those 10 criteria would suggest you should have agreed something else. I assume even more so if kids involved. It just preempts that and lessons the likelihood of courts asking clarifications. Doesn’t mean they won’t, it just helps.

Sorry should add, my ex’s solicitor went through what the consent order was, checked we’d done full financial disclosure, asked if he’d thought about implications of what he was signing but did NOT go through ex actual situation in terms of the detail of finances…I believe they took a quick lock, pointed out it wasn’t exactly 50:50 and had ex agreed to that and comfortable with it. But it really was a very basic check list to ensure he knew what it meant legally.
He asked for this specifically when he contacted solicitor- said that was all he wanted. He used a link in the Advice Now guides to find an online solicitor who would do just that bit..they spoke over the phone only for that 1 short session.

Ha.. one last thing
New divorce laws and process that came in yesterday I think

1. You can only go no fault “irrecable break down” now. So absolutely no point getting solicitor involved in divorce application itself. I understand this was a deliberate move by gov, that people would go on line and do it themselves
2. Financial agreement process does NOT change. The only change is terms. Petitioner now is the “applicant”, Nisi is “conditional” order and absolute is now “final”…but timelines in terms of submitting consent orders are same. Submit once conditional given (can’t before) and sealed by courts at final.

If you can agree and no children are involved you can DIY for very little cost, a solicitor need not cost a great deal but most will string it out, I had to order mine to settle for what I thought was reasonable. If I hadn’t it would have cost another £5k easily.

Do you think your STBEx will be reasonable and amicable, OP? Both parties need to be, if you're going to do it yourself.

In my case, my ex wouldn't negotiate, wouldn't accept what I was entitled to, and was generally obstructive. It did cost a lot to go to court (we went to final hearing, but he settled before we went in front of the judge). It was worth it, because I got my share (hundreds of thousands of pounds more than he was 'willing' to 'let' me have 🙄, and more than ten times what it cost to go to court). He dragged it out for three years!

I just wanted to say that, because I wasn't able to face him in court without my barrister and solicitor, my ex was (still is!) an evil, aggressive vindictive man. My mental health was not up to that.