Is it possible to do divorce by yourselves?

[April2013]

Just very daunted by the cost, things are fairly amicable when it comes to the big things…not always but mostly.

The financial settlement side of things I imagine I would need something watertight and dealt with by solicitors would I?

Thanks very much

Just looking online the government website seems to say you can do this but there has to be child maintenance.
I'm trying to find this out to see if a clean break after very short marriage is possible and not too expensive.

Is it possible? Yes. Is it recommended? I would say no.

It obviously does depend on what is in the “pot”, if you’re renting, no cars, no real savings, no kids, roughly equal jobs/pensions then it’s less important but for most people I’d say it is incredibly important to seek proper legal advice throughout, you can’t afford not to sometimes. Even the most amicable of break ups can leave one person shafted, believing the other would never do that to them.

I did it. Divorced in 16 weeks with minimal cost. A solicitor drew up the financial order that we agreed. Saved us a fortune, no delays and no aggravation

We had a house and children. I researched a sensible settlement and maintenance. I was reasonable and tbh pretty independent so I guess he didn't feel screwed or vulnerable. If you agree on outcome and don't feel coerced or ill informed go for it

https://divorce.wikivorce.com/
This was a really useful site

Look at a fixed fee service with the back up of legal advice to guide through the process. Co-op legal services for instance, do a package for £600 plus £593 court fees.

www.co-oplegalservices.co.uk/family-law-solicitors/divorce/

My ex and I had a DIY divorce. We looked considered how much earning power each of us had; his was declining, and mine was increasing. He kept his pension, I kept mine, he had the main house, I had a smaller house that I had bought previously but had rented out. In theory he had much more money than me, but my wages were going up a lot. We had no children.

We were both happy with the financial split, and twenty years later, I still think it was fair.

I have a free 20 minute telephone consultation with a wikivorce consultant this afternoon -any tips on what to focus on, please? (financial issues, pension etc)

We used amicable. We agreed on most things so that worked well for us. We had kids and a house but weren't splitting pensions as both similar plus earnings not vastly different plus he moved in with OW so didn't need a house.

Yes, we did. Was very simple though as no assets to split as house had already been sold with no equity and maintenance was covered by CMS. Wouldn’t do it if there were assets to haggle over though.