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Use our Single Parent forum to speak to other parents raising a child alone.

Lone parents

Does £2,500 plus VAT sound about right for a divorce?

22 replies

alwaysindoubt · 04/11/2009 21:45

I like the solicitor and she gave me good advice for free. But could I get a better deal if I shopped around?

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whomovedmychocolatecookie · 04/11/2009 22:04

Sounds cheap to me! I'd grab it with both hands, particularly if there is a property involved. Mine cost £6K for a relatively simple and amicable settlement.

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jamestkirk · 04/11/2009 22:38

sounds ok to me too - is years since i got mine but cost nearly that much - was a rather complicated one too, went on for ages.

would also say its worth a lot if you get on well with the solicitor - can make things a lot easier.

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nighbynight · 04/11/2009 22:46

Does that include everything to do with the chidlren? Our divorce got put through with a judgement on where the children would live, but nothing about pr or access. Its optional in the UK, I was later told.

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neverjamtoday · 04/11/2009 23:10

As long as you feel that you are getting good advice, that sounds like a bargain. My bill is currently standing at £4000 plus (took at cheque for £660 in today for last months work - the credit card is creaking) although there is light at the end of the tunnel so I don't think it will be much more. I suspect I may not be with the cheapest firm around but my solicitor was very clear with me at the beginning that this would cost between £4000 and £6000 so I can't say I wasn't warned. My soon to be ex has paid very little mind you - my solicitor is doing all the work it seems (and doesn't he take delight in telling me!) but, although relationships aren't great to say the least, it has been relatively straight forward so I think that you could be stung with a much bigger bill.

And this is in the frozen north. A couple my sister knows in London were paying five or six times more than this each!!! It was a bit acrimonious tho' with lots of arguing about child access/residency etc.

Hope it goes OK for you. I feel sick everytime I pay a bill but the pain and yuck that I am leaving has got to be worth it. 'This too will pass' helps me as a thought! I'd rather be penniless but in charge of my own penury that have the kind of life my children and I were having before.

Take care

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pregnantpeppa · 04/11/2009 23:20

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

neverjamtoday · 04/11/2009 23:34

Sorry - bit pedantic but would like to point out thet the 'he' who is delighting in telling me that I am paying the bulk of the bill is my soon to be ex not my solicitor - who is a very nice, extremely sympathetic woman.

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brightwell · 05/11/2009 06:51

My divorce cost me £7,000 and my ex £14,000. That was 8 years ago...it all got very messy because ex kept refusing to pay up the settlement he agreed to. So yes, £2,500 sounds very reasonable.

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nighbynight · 05/11/2009 11:09

brightwell.

I paid around 3, 300 last year in germany, just for the parental responsibility bit. The divorce and the decision about where the children should live, was already done.

what is the cheapest that you can get away with in the UK, if you do everything yourself and don't go to a solicitor?

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brightwell · 05/11/2009 19:27

A friend of mine is currently divorcing on-line, she's got all the info etc and everything is amicable. She thinks it'll be £1,500. Surely it's got to be in everyones best interest to divorce as cheaply as possible. The £20,000+ that my divorce cost could have gone towards a bigger house for me & dc.

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Biobytes · 06/11/2009 12:47

TBH if it is only the divorce and it doesn't cover disputes for children care, and separation of assets, you can do it yourself for far less than that (just the court fees). Or even using an internet service.

The thing is that you get what you pay. If there are not many points of conflict in your divorce like no children, no property disagreements, short marriage, etc. you are likely to spend that much, but any conflict and the bill will get bigger.

I believe that solicitors operate within certain national rate bands. So, there may not be much difference between prices.

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alwaysindoubt · 06/11/2009 14:52

It's not a fixed fee. It's what she thinks it will be. So far we are not disputing anything. Her advice - and this is why I liked her - was to work things out with my husband and she would do the papework. I had seen another solicitor who was very aggessive and his attitude was let's go for the jugular so I liked this woman's calm manner and she seemed sympathetic and decent.

OP posts:

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Biobytes · 06/11/2009 16:28

One thing you may ask for is if she is a member of Resolution First, from what I understand, solicitors part of Resoultion First take care in doing as much as possible to minimise conflict, like wording the things in a non aggressive way.

Mine is one of those, exH's isn't, the letters are very very different. Fortunately, mine is good to focus on the issues and helps me not to get winded up from the bully exh hired to defend his interests.

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pinkchampagne · 06/11/2009 18:47

Just got mine through & it ended up costing me £1,248.50 in total. £300 of that was to cover an extra court fee as I had to go & give further evidence that we were living separately while waiting for the house to sell after the separation. Was a pretty straightforward divorce other than that though.

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pinkchampagne · 06/11/2009 18:49

We sorted all our finances out beforehand through mediation though so it was just the divorce itself.

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pinkchampagne · 06/11/2009 18:50

@£20,000!!

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bonfiresnomore · 06/11/2009 18:57

Good grief! I've just been quoted £1,000 for an uncontested divorce (can't remember if it includes VAT as I was a bit stunned at that!) - some of you have really paid over the odds.

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Biobytes · 06/11/2009 19:38

My ex was quoted £500, but then the solicitor had not had a clue of what was in stake as ex lied to him about his assets. Mine, who knew the situation from the very beginning quoted between £4000- £6000 due to the complexity of the case.

So far, I think, we would be extremely lucky if we manage to keep it below 10,000.

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pinkchampagne · 06/11/2009 19:53

I was quoted £1000 for an uncontested divorce too & it would have been just under that if it hadn't been for the £300 extra I had to pay for my solicitor to appear in court with me.

Am really shocked at how much some of you have had to pay too. I wouldn't have been able to afford to get divorced if mine had cost that much!

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nighbynight · 06/11/2009 20:57

Isnt it possible to get a do-it-yourself divorce costing peanuts?

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pinkchampagne · 06/11/2009 22:18

Yes I think you can do it for a few hundred if you do it yourself but I wanted the security of my solicitor.

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jamestkirk · 06/11/2009 22:33

the more complicated the more cost is easiest way to see it. no way would i have tried to do my own. it went on for ages - lots of court visits with solicitor in tow and then a barrister - cost loads.

would check on who pays what aswell. i assumed we would pay half each. and even tho my ex started the court action against me after she'd been gone ages i had to pay all of my own costs and am still paying it back. she got legal aid and didnt have to pay a penny back ever. meant she was able to try everything she could think of knowing i had to pay to defend myself.

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pinkchampagne · 07/11/2009 11:16

I payed for the divorce myself because I was the one pushing for it. Each court visit does cost loads. One quick 5 minute court visit with my solicitor cost me an extra £300. Other than that mine was a pretty straightforward divorce. Ex h didn't bother getting himself a solicitor & just signed on the dotted line each time he was sent any paperwork. Without the court visit mine would have cost just under a grand in total.