Who has done their own Consent Order without solicitors?

[Dollymixture17]

Hi, just wondering if it's doable to not use a solicitor? There are no assets and no maintenance as co parenting, but if that was to change we have agreed the maintenance so pretty straight forward?

The consent order is a legal document and needs to be in legal terms, so if you are confident in doing that, then yes, you could do it yourself. There are low cost legal advisers out there who will prepare the order based on what you have decided, which might be a better way to do it and make sure you are both protected against future claims. Mine was drafted by my solicitor based on what we decided and there are things in there that I hadn't considered.

Yes it is 100% possible to do it by yourself. I had to do it because dealing with solicitors was getting difficult (lack of funds and mine weren't very good)
I used these - iamlip.com - it's a bunch of free help guides that take you through the entire process. If you do need a solicitor though you can always use the help guides alongside a solicitor to save money where you can by doing some of it yourself e.g. forms etc.
For the consent order you need right now, this should be able to help you - https://iamlip.com/statements-documents-and-bundles-you-will-need-to-produce-for-the-court/your-draft-consent-order-explained/ Hope this could be helpful!

Use the links above at top,of page to ADVICE NOW
they explain all the diy stuff- you need to complete form d81 at minimum which you can do yourselves, and write a layman’s agreement.
but unless one of you is solicitor you’ll need a solicitor to put your consent order words into draft legal speak to get it sealed by court. That doesn’t cost a lot if your layman’s one is clear.
do NOT divorce without a financial settlement sealed by the court - even if it says we owe each other nothing . You will be leaving yourself wide open to future claims if you do get money, even if you trust him it’s not worth the risk.

Thanks all I'll look into it

The court may not approve it if it’s not passed by a solicitor -I did mine through one of those cheap firms, I think it was about £199 and very easy. Pensions can be tricky

I also did myself as a joint consent order, just had a solicitor read through what we added on the form and divorceonline draft the legal document (its like 300£). It was approved by court within 3 days so could apply for final order.