Divorce WWYD: DIY or solicitor

[Handywoman]

Hello, this is also posted in Legal Matters, but I would value the wisdom of the wise folk on here:

In June, stbxh and i will have been separated two years.

When we split I went to a solicitor and had a separation agreement drafted, so that finances could be settled ASAP. At the time he balked at being divorced for Unreasonable Behaviour, so I agreed to wait two years to keep the peace (he had been angry and EA for ten years and refuses to acknowledge any part in the breakdown of our marriage).

All this has been actioned, only my name remains on the house deeds, he took his equity and has bought another property (which he is about to sell, in order to buy another house with his new gf of about five mins ). The separation agreement was drafted by my solicitor, I paid for all of this, because I felt I needed to protect myself.

We have two dc, aged 10 and 12. He sees them EOW (I work EOW so need him to do this) and pays maintenance as per the separation agreement. I told him that divorce with the same solicitor would likely cost £1,500.

He is now complaining about this, he wants to do it online to save money.

I would rather it was done and drafted properly, by a solicitor, so I can sleep at night knowing it's all settled.

This man is an angry and inept idiot who acknowledges nothing of the appalling behaviour he meted out on me while we were married. I can barely look at him, let alone sit down and fill in court papers with him. I also work and don't have a lot of time to devote to safeguarding my legal position. I can accept that there won't be any closer around what happened, but have this one last hurdle/conflict to get over. Plus I can't really trust him to get the paperwork done properly because he is an idiot and rubbish at this sort of thing as well as a crap dad

WWYD??????

*closure not closer

Solicitor, always, no brainer. It may be straightforward but if it gets complicated you want someone who knows the rules of the game. Good luck!

You're dealing with a nasty person in a contentious situation and with DCs. There would be no question in my mind - get a solicitor.

Another one saying a solicitor is worth it. My ex went fairly quietly and even then I got a solicitor to dot the 'i's and cross the 't's. £1500 is good value if it means there are no comebacks.

Thanks, all.

I had originally planned to swallow the cost of this myself (seeing as nothing would give me greater pleasure than to get divorced from this utter low life). But seeing as he's swiftly moving on and in with his gf I thought it fair to ask him for 50% of the £

But it seems he's going to be difficult and inept about it as usual. He'll be thinking 'what's easier' rather than 'what's best'. He won't be equating 'do it online' with 'spending time filling in forms and wording it right'.

And now I'm tying myself in knots because asking him for anything breaks the Golden Rule of detaching from a Narc and Staying Sane.

But I also think he should do the decent thing and pay 50% But I know he isn't a decent person!!!!!!!

I did my divorce online BUT we had no DCs and were in complete agreement regarding the finances which happened to be a straightforward 50/50 split. ExH and I had to fill out a questionnaire each (we didn't have to complete anything together as I was living at the opposite end if the country by then), the online company then appointed a local solicitor to use the info to complete all the legal documents and sent them off to court for me - I did get a chance to look over it all first. So basically it was all above board in that they made sure all my divorce paperwork was correct but had I wanted actual legal advice they wouldn't have helped.

I would say in your case with DCs and a potentially awkward ex you might be better off using your own solicitor who's already familiar with your circumstances.