Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Divorce/separation

Here you'll find divorce help and support from other Mners. For legal advice, you may find Advice Now guides useful.

Flip

Original poster

Applying for financial order without solicitor

15 replies

LDA123 · 12/08/2023 06:45

Hi,
Has anyone done this? We separated 15 months ago and have so far not come to any agreement regarding the split of assets.

I don’t want to go to court but I am just worried that negotiations will drag on forever with no end date in sight.

Was thinking I could apply for the court order myself and that would give us X months to sort things before the first court case.

At present, my solicitor has my completed form E but he failed to complete one. We are trying to finalise without his form e but are struggling to agree.

My solicitor has said they can apply for the financial remedy order but quite frankly, I cannot afford their fees to do this (£275).

Thanks for any tips. I’ll take a look at Advice Now also.

OP posts:

72dotcom · 12/08/2023 09:32

Following this as I’m in a similar position although my divorce has been going on for 3 years! I am being offered very little. Like you, I don’t want it to go to court but I’m struggling to pay for monthly solicitor bills of £400-£900 a month!! My job is also at risk as we are undergoing a restructure so I am cracking up with this!

72dotcom · 12/08/2023 09:33

We have both completed form E. But, both solicitors are stringing it out asking what every last penny was spent on (and I’m supposed to know what he has spent his money on)!

CornishGem1975 · 12/08/2023 09:34

Not sure if it has changed now but when I got divorced 5 years ago, we couldn't submit the financial/consent order ourselves, it had to be done via a solicitor. The rest of the divorce we did ourselves.

CornishGem1975 · 12/08/2023 09:35

Oh just read this:

You're obligated to use a solicitor to draft a Consent Order, but you can submit the application to the court without legal services. You may want to use a solicitor to help with the process and ensure the judge will deem the agreement fair and approve the order.

Doggymummar · 12/08/2023 09:37

Not sure if it helps, but my divorce a decade ago was contentious and cost over £20k for me and over £40k for him. I couldn't afford it, was homeless and on £35k salary. The solicitor put a charge on my house and took the fees out of my eventual settlement. Appreciate this won't work if you rent.n

Fourmagpies · 12/08/2023 12:51

The financial remedy fee will be less than ongoing solicitor's fees. If your ex doesn't want to engage in the process, this is probably the best way to go about it as they'll take a dim view of him if he won't provide the court with the information. Otherwise you're going to be spending loads in solicitors fees and not get anywhere.

72dotcom · 12/08/2023 16:22

How much is it likely to cost if we apply for our own court order? Sorry to hijack your thread OP!
Will there be barrister fees etc. on top of that?

72dotcom · 12/08/2023 16:24

I’m in the position of ongoing solicitor fees (3 years in) and I’ve switched solicitors already. It’s making no difference and there is no progress. I could buy another house with what I’m paying them each month!

Fourmagpies · 12/08/2023 17:04

A financial order where the court decides the split is £275. This just the court fee, legal fees are on top. You are expected to try to agree and there is a process to follow but if you can't agree, the judge will decide for you. Ideally you should still have legal advice and representation, but it can be done without.

72dotcom · 12/08/2023 19:34

Fourmagpies · 12/08/2023 17:04

Any idea what sort of legal fees are on top?

Anita848 · 12/08/2023 23:19

I get you, honestly solicitors' fees really scare me. Its insane how much they charge. See if this might help you, I used this to help you - https://www.iamlip.com/ Its a bunch of free help guides that take you through the entire process, including how to fill out forms. There's much of the process that you can do yourself so easily with these so I hope these can help you like they did me. You can also use this resource by yourself like I did or alongside a solicitor to help you keep costs down by showing you how to do it yourself e.g. filling out specific forms. Hope this can help!
Also I found that divorce facebook groups and using mumsnet have been really helpful for asking questions and getting answers xxx

I AM L.I.P - Free Divorce Guide and Forum for Litigants in Person

I AM L.I.P is the UK's leading platform offering a free A to Z dissection to divorce, a forum to share experiences, and L.I.P Wellbeing. Get free help guides for divorce, child custody, finances, and more.

https://www.iamlip.com/

Fourmagpies · 13/08/2023 08:14

72dotcom · 12/08/2023 19:34

Any idea what sort of legal fees are on top?

Show quote history

Sorry I don't. Fortunately my ex is being very reasonable so I only need my solicitor to draft the consent order.

Appleofmyeye2023 · 13/08/2023 15:25

Go to the link above to ADVICE NOW

read their guides - it tells you everything you need to know and more besides

bevvy81 · 14/08/2023 12:22

You'll need a solicitor to draft the financial order. I used one purely for this purpose - they didn't give any advice on the consent order, just drafted it in line with what we agreed. They then submitted the D81 & consent order for us. This was the cheapest option. We didn't pay for any legal advice during our process as we agreed finances between us.

It looks like you are going down the full financial disclosure route if you are completing form E so the process is different to mine. Best of luck

caringcarer · 14/08/2023 14:31

The problem with divorce is that no matter how reasonable one party is if the other won't play ball it will cost a lot in legal fees. After 21 years of marriage exh cheated on me and I found out and started divorce proceedings. I offered 50/50 on house with just 4 years left on the mortgage, 50/50 on our business we had equal shares in, 50/50 pension sharing and 50/50 on 2 DC of 16 and 7 and agreed equal weeks on a caravan we owned and for us to pay equal site fees. Other DC at Uni. This should have been so straight forward and we shouldn't have needed to go to court. Exh was outraged and tried to insist I kept the house and he kept the business. He was ridiculously obstructive. Stalled on form E for about 6 months, refused to declare his various pensions and said he'd forgotten about them, didn't turn up in court but sent his solicitor to say he felt unwell. A new court date was set but again he failed to turn up, sending his solicitor to say his Mother was unwell. But the judge was having none of it, went ahead on financial settlement judgement without him. Judge made a little statement saying if people choose to disrespect the legal process they would not benefit from doing so. I ended up with 65 percent of house, 50 percent of business and he was given 30 days to supply his full pension details or I would be ordered to get 50 percent of his main pension and keep all of my own. Needless to say he miraculously found these past pension details but I still kept all of my own pension and got 1/3 of his biggest pension. Also after fighting for 50/50 custody of our DC at this court hearing his solicitor said he had changed his mind and only wanted EOW with DC, 1 week summer holidays and occasional evening in the week. The only nice thing he did was to agree DC could spend Xmas Eve and Xmas day with me every year and he would have them Boxing Day. I know it was only because he didn't want to be bothering to do Xmas stockings or cooking a Xmas dinner but I was thrilled.

Flip