How did you find a decent solicitor?

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I've been separated for almost 2 years and really want to get divorce sorted this summer as soon as my teens finish their exams. Ex will drag them into it and I need to protect them from additional stress.

I am in need of a very good solicitor but none of my friends have any recommendations.

So far I've

Had a free 30 mins with a local solicitor, very wishy washy and vague.

Had a free hour with a brilliant solicitor that I can't afford but is a friend of a friend.

Enquired with a local firm with a nice website who wanted £250 for an initial appointment.

Is there a better way of finding someone than googling and hoping for the best?! I don't mind if its all online or face to face, what matters is that I get a decent and fair deal, and it doesn't drag on.

TIA for any help.

Before you need a “ good solicitor “ go to link above on ADVICENOW

they do guides that you can download. Read these first.

they cost around £22 to download the detailed guides but a fair bit is free. Even £22 is around 8 minutes of your average solicitor time. Not even a “ good one”

a good solicitor will not get you more money than an average one unless youhave a lot of surplus money, and a lot of money to waste on fees at £200 per hour or more. for every minute you’re asking questions you could find out on line, every second you’re venting to them, and every second they’re even remotely thinking about your case you are being charged. Sure, most will give you an initial 30 mins but that is partly their sales pitch and partly stuff you could read on the government web site for free.

once you understand the process, you can then find a solicitor to do just the tasks you actually need . The ADVICENOW guides will explain that.

by law your financial outcome has to meet legal “ fair settlement “ criteria, these are a doesn or so criteria laid out in the marriage act. Courts cannot even “seal” a consent order unless it meets these criteria. These do NOT necessarily mean a 50:50 split. You also need to understand past behaviour is not considered by the court for what you might deem fair settlement based on his past behaviour- it simply has no bearing whatsoever. You also need to accept that you WILL be poorer- no one comes out of divorce at even same level of wealth they had when married. Yes, this is sometimes extraordinarily hard to get your head around, it will cause you to be angry, resentful, stressed etc., but it is the reality. The best way to move forwards is to use the ADVICE NOW guides to determine what is realistic, what you’d ideally like , and what you’d give up if push came to shove.

going an adversarial route is extremely expensive, time consuming and stressful. I would advise you think long and hard about how you want to handle your divorce. You will be better off all round by parking anger , however righteous, and dealing with ex in a detached way. If he’ll accept it, hand him a copy of the ADVICE NOW guides so he understands the process too, and quite how soul destroying and money wasting it is to be bloody awquard and obstructive.

And I divorced my abusive ex on grounds of “unreasonable behaviour “ in 2021. 11 weeks from petition to decree final and £1400 cost in total for both of us. Yes, I was hurt, angry and frankly appalled that his past behaviour meant nothing. But it is what it is. I used ADVICENOW - bloody brilliant

Whether you need a decent solicitor or not largely depends on whether you are the higher earning spouse or not. If you are the weaker financial party, then an average solicitor will probably suffice because the whole process is already stacked in your favour and poorly drafted agreements will normally be the obligor's problem.

Contrary to popular opinion, a good solicitor is not likely to win someone more money. Almost certainly everything will be decided by negotiation rather than court anyway. If not, an average solicitor will do just fine presenting the facts and then a judge will decide. Who the judge is matters far more. Some expect weaker financial parties to get on with it a lot more than others.

What a good solicitor will do though is make sure orders are written properly so they work as intended. So mesher orders will actually end when the youngest is 18 and 50% will mean 50%; global maintenance orders will cease when children are not children anymore; best endeavours clauses will have drop dead dates; maintenance will have a section 28A bar etc. All these things a poor solicitor may fail to achieve with poorly written orders but normally it is the party paying maintenance or waiting for their capital or mortgage capacity who suffers.