How Much Will My Divorce Cost?

Divorce costs?

The costs of divorcing are a common worry for separating spouses. It is a myth that all divorces are expensive. Divorce costs vary depending on your personal circumstances. For an outline of costs please contact us on 0800 840 4929. 

Keeping divorce costs to a minimum

Divorce costs | the three separate legal issues

Providing you with the right divorce solicitor and minimising costs

About our charges / fees

Compliance with Resolution to avoid aggressive costs 

Collaborative Law

Keeping divorce costs to a minimum

There are a number of ways we aim to keep your divorce costs to a minimum. Our divorce solicitors encourage you to keep costs down by providing us with as much information as you can.

Write out a list of your own, joint and spouse’s assets, pensions, incomes, liabilities and income needs. Then gather together documentation in respect to your own and joint finances. The following documents are important:

• Family home / properties market appraisal
• Mortgage statement including any outstanding mortgage valuations
• Pensions cash equivalent transfer valve (CETV)
• Recent P60 and last three wage slips (if you are in employed)
• Last two years’ accounts and business valuation (if self employed and/or business owner)
• 12 month bank or building society statements
• Up-to-date surrender value on any endowment policies
• Tax return on your most recent return and assessment (if applicable)
• Evidence of outstanding loans/credit card debts
• Income requirement schedule (based on lifestyle not a ‘wish list’)

We also encourage you not to contact us in a moment of anger or merely to express your frustration at your spouse. Although we will be sympathetic towards your situation, our role is not as a source of emotional support. If you need someone to talk to, we have contacts with a number of counsellors/family coaches. For more information about our links with counsellors and family coaches please see our expert resources page.

Divorce costs | the three separate legal issues

In terms of the costs which will be incurred by you on divorce, there are three separate legal issues:

• the divorce itself – this brings your marriage to an end. The costs of obtaining a divorce are usually quite modest. If you initiate the divorce you can include a request in your petition that your spouse pays these costs
• reaching a financial settlement on divorce – in addition to the fees of your family solicitor, you may also need to pay for additional expenses including court and experts' fees (in respect of matters such as property/pension/business valuations, together with barristers' fees). For more information about the experts' resources which we have available to us, see the section on expert resources. The starting point under the current law is that each party is responsible for their own costs incurred in reaching a financial settlement. In certain narrow circumstances however it may be possible to pursue a costs order against your spouse
• resolving children disputes – not every divorce involves a dispute about children. Often arrangements for the children will have been resolved by agreement. Disputes involving children are not normally a feature of most divorces. In the event that there are court proceedings, it is generally not possible to seek an order from the court that your spouse pays the costs which you incur

Providing you with the right divorce solicitor and minimising costs

We operate in teams so your case can be run between two or more family lawyers with tasks allocated to the most appropriate member of the team. In this way, cases can be dealt with on a day-to-day basis by a more junior family solicitor at their hourly rate, but supervised by a more senior divorce lawyer giving you the benefit of their experience and expertise although minimising the work carried out by them.

About our charges / fees

With an extensive family law team of over 20 family solicitors, we are able to charge a range of hourly rates depending upon the year of qualification and seniority. This ensures your case is allocated to the most appropriate family solicitor depending upon factors including the complexities involved and issues arising. For a cost outline contact us on 0800 840 4929. 

Compliance with Resolution to avoid aggressive costs 

We conduct cases in an amicable, conciliatory manner in compliance with the Resolution Code of Practice. In this way, it should be possible to avoid costs incurred in writing aggressive and hostile correspondence. By endorsing the more traditional method of negotiating a settlement through solicitors we try and avoid issuing court proceedings. That is when costs can begin to escalate. For more details see our alternatives to court page.

Collaborative Law

A number of our family law solicitors are trained in the collaborative law process. This is becoming popular in part because family lawyers' fees for dealing with a case collaboratively are often relatively low. For more details on the collaborative process, please see our separate section on collaborative law

Contact a divorce solicitor today

To discuss your divorce with us please contact us on 0800 840 4929. Our family law team are available to answer your call 24 hours a day seven days a week.