Legal Costs For Divorce
How much will the legal fees for a divorce be?
The legal fees for a divorce are divided in two. Firstly, there are the costs of your divorce lawyer which is calculated on an hourly basis and depends on how much they charge, where they are and on their experience. There is also the legal cost of the court fees; for example, a petition and a decree absolute would cost about £380. You will also have to pay legal fees called disbursements; for example, if you have to pay for a barrister or expert, they will have to be paid for separately from your divorce lawyer's legal fees.
Who pays all the legal costs in a divorce?
The legal costs of a divorce will be paid by both parties. If you are the petitioner and you issue a divorce petition, you can ask that the other side pays the costs. They will normally be ordered to pay the cost of the petition unless you agree otherwise. With regard to the finances, there is new divorce legislation which indicates that you should normally both pay your own costs unless there has been what's called litigation misconduct. In other words, if you've been very naughty, lied, misled the court or racked up costs by your behaviour in the divorce, then you will be ordered to pay the costs. Otherwise, you both pay your own costs for the divorce.
What extra costs are there?
There can be extra costs in a divorce. These include valuing the assets - paying agents or proper valuers to value your house or company. Sometimes during divorce proceedings we have to bring in forensic accountants to understand the full value of companies or shares. We call these extra legal costs disbursements. They are legal charges that are incurred in the course of a divorce, on top of the normal hourly rate for the solicitor or barrister concerned.
Do divorce lawyers work on a 'No Win No Fee' basis?
I would say it's almost unheard of for divorce lawyers to work on a 'No Win No Fee' basis. The courts don't like that kind of arrangement because they don't want the divorce settlement to be skewed or altered in any way to accommodate a "no-win-no-fee" arrangement. So it's virtually unheard of.
What is the cheapest way to divorce?
The cheapest way to divorce is by downloading the forms from the internet. This way, you deal with the divorce petition yourself, and you reach a very early settlement with your partner. Mediation is one way that you can help agree divorce settlements early, or sometimes by a new process called collaborative law. The less work your divorce lawyer does, the cheaper it will be.
