Seeing solicitors about divorce

[HaveALegalQuestion]

I realise this may be a 'How long is a piece of string?' type question but typically how many appointments would one have with a solicitor getting advice and getting financially prepared before I split from my H? What would be a typical process?

Divorce has been talked about but hasn't been taken very seriously and he will not know I am taking legal advice. I am the main earner and mostly paid for the properties we own.

My answer is - only a few times.

Ex and I had a fairly uncomplicated divorce - no dependant children and we agreed on how finances would be split beforehand and who would pay for what.

I had a free 15minute session with a solicitor then one appointment to go through the agreement (which was changed several times).

Once divorce proceedings were underway, I went back regarding the property buyout (I took over the mortgage and gave ex a half share of the equity).

The last visit was regarding pension sharing. Solicitor was at the other end of the phone and I also had email contact with her secretary who was very helpful.

I was also able to communicate with ex's solicitor regarding anything I wasn't sure about.

I recently retired from Family work, and as a general rule, on a straightforward case I might only meet the client in person 4 or 5 times. The more complex the case and/or the more support the client needed (not always the same thing), the more face to face meetings there'd be.

There will be a lot more phone calls, letters and emails than meetings. The 2 best ways of keeping your costs down are to keep to the point, don't ramble about the background of the breakup/your feelings, and have all of your paperwork in good order, organised logically and chronologically.

You will be paying about £200 per hour plus VAT, so the less time you take up with unnecessary stuff, the lower your bill will be. If you need to talk about your feelings, go and have a drink with your friends, they won't be charging you by the hour!

Fully agree with Mumbles.