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How long is a piece of string?
Are the parties amicable? Do both parties agree as to what they want to leave with? Are there other assets, pensions etc?
Are the parties amicable? Do both parties agree as to what they want to leave with? Are there other assets, pensions etc?
Only one wants it at this stage so hopefully it may not happen but just thinking ahead. There isn’t really anything to walk away with sadly. No assets or pensions to consider.
I reckon it will be in the region of £2k a straight forward divorce with a solicitor involved. But please bear in mind that they will find reasons to drag it out in order to get more money from you. You will also have to pay about £500-£750 upfront before any work is undertaken.
A friend of mine did herself on the internet for a mere £300 ish. As both parties wanted it and agreed to split anything 50/50.
Good luck
As said above how long is a piece of string, I was told £2.5k with kids involved but straight forward enough and both willing. Although my ex changed his mind and isn’t playing ball and 9 months later we’re at 6.5k no further along and now looking at court as the only way I can get divorced from him which will add another 10k Atleast.
Try and do as much as you can yourself ie form E I did all of mine, I know my ex gave his to the solicitor to do and that cost him a few grand. You are charged per minute it takes them to reply to emails and calls so I only email and call when necessary, no long email back to thank them etc
If it’s straight forward though you can do it yourself I believe, look at citizen advice website there’s lots of good information on there and I’m sure last night I saw a doing it yourself section
Try and do as much as you can yourself ie form E I did all of mine, I know my ex gave his to the solicitor to do and that cost him a few grand. You are charged per minute it takes them to reply to emails and calls so I only email and call when necessary, no long email back to thank them etc
If it’s straight forward though you can do it yourself I believe, look at citizen advice website there’s lots of good information on there and I’m sure last night I saw a doing it yourself section
Most charge in six minute units of time. I'd be surprised though if you were charged for reading an email that required no response (a thank you etc).
Thanks so much, I wondered if there was a way of doing it on the internet. Definitely something to consider.
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Thank you very much, that’s really helpful and I’m sorry to hear you’re having problems with yours
Mine was less than £1.5k - no kids involved and we sold the property and split the proceeds 50:50 before going down the legal divorce route. We were both agreed that we would keep what was ours (i.e. no chasing each others pensions or savings etc) so probably the "simplest" type of divorce. We did it online through the government portal as a no blame divorce - flat fee of £600 ish. I then instructed a solicitor to get a financial consent order to cement what we had agreed regarding finances. That cost me another £600 all in. Strongly advise finding a solicitor who will do it for a flat fee which is agreed beforehand, rather than charging per hour etc.
Could anyone help with solicitor fees please. I have been charged in total £86 just for my solicitor writing to me to tell me that they were going on Christmas break. £23 consideration time to send me email. £23 to send email to me. £23 to read my reply of thanks, will catch up in January and a further £23 to consider my reply? I also have an issue that they are increasingly using trainees and my bill is increased due to the time it is taking them to draft an email- I am then being charged by solicitor whilst they read trainees draft and consider it. Is this standard practice I have a bill of £1200 for 18 emails, no meetings, no telephone calls and to add it is not a complex case at all.
Really you should only be charged for work that progresses your case. If an email genuinely was to tell you their annual leave dates and you're being charged for it then I'd definitely complain. Likewise if they're charging to read an email that says 'thanks, we'll catch up in January'. It takes longer to record the time than to read the email!
However, with the other stuff, it depends a bit more. Yes it's standard practice for more junior staff to do first drafts of things and then for a solicitor to review. Junior staff should be charged at a lower rate though and I'd expect any excessive time spent to be written off (you shouldn't be paying to train their staff).
As for considering replies, it depends what's involved in this. Obviously there's reading but there may also be thinking time and/or time spent diarising for further action to be taken etc.
As noted in the thread, solicitors charge in 6 minute units, so if a task takes 4 minutes then it's 1 unit. However, they shouldn't be taking the piss. If an email takes 30 seconds to read then it's not reasonable to charge a unit for that.
Thanks for your reply, I think I will need to question this, I am also being charged for solicitor reviewing case on his return from holiday and the work the trainee did in their absence. Also being charged an acknowledgment email to the other solicitor when they email in and upon my instruction they are responding again with in response to your email. My case has not progressed at all, the trainee has charged me £400 for 1 email because their draft had incorrect information and have charged me to correct it.
I love that I get charged for them to create the invoice they send to you. 
should have been a Solicitor!
I hope you get that sorted it sounds a piss take even by solicitor standards , I’m a year in now but it’s not straight forward and £11,000 down with hardly no movement just a few offers thrown around and now about to start arbitration
should have been a Solicitor!I hope you get that sorted it sounds a piss take even by solicitor standards , I’m a year in now but it’s not straight forward and £11,000 down with hardly no movement just a few offers thrown around and now about to start arbitration
@Jojoo sorry to hear you are not progressing either and your eye watering costs. This is my dilemma if I email to query is he going to charge me more whilst he reads it and looks into it. Looking back I can see that in my original meeting he asked if his trainee could sit in meeting - I said yes of course . I can now see they charged me for them sitting in , had I know they were charging and not just observing I would have said no. Honestly the only people who win are the solicitors!
You do to a certain extent have to consider the alternative. If the trainee hadn't sat in then your solicitor would have had to make their own note of the meeting, which wouldn't have been as good because it's not possible to do a good thorough note and process what is being said, probe for more information and provide any initial thoughts at the same time and then after the meeting your solicitor would have had to brief the trainee based on their own notes and recollection. So you'd be paying for that time anyway. Sometimes what may seem cost-inefficient may not be.
Having said this, you should not be charged for time spent dealing with billing queries.
I’m a Solicitor and we do charge in units of 6 as someone else said.
However my hourly rate is £185.00 so one unit is £18.50, and that’s how much a basic email out is, emails/letters in are charged at half that. So being charged £86.00 for one email/letter definitely doesn’t seem right as it would make someone’s hourly rate £860.00.
Is it a city firm or high street?
Also regarding the trainee, trainees have to start somewhere or you wouldn’t have qualified solicitors. Like someone else said, their hourly rate should be less and then a qualified solicitor will review their work, so you should end up being charged a similar amount/less than if the solicitor had done the full piece of work themselves as their rate is so much higher than a trainees.
Also love to point out the £185.00 an hour doesn’t go in my pocket, I wish
However my hourly rate is £185.00 so one unit is £18.50, and that’s how much a basic email out is, emails/letters in are charged at half that. So being charged £86.00 for one email/letter definitely doesn’t seem right as it would make someone’s hourly rate £860.00.
Is it a city firm or high street?
Also regarding the trainee, trainees have to start somewhere or you wouldn’t have qualified solicitors. Like someone else said, their hourly rate should be less and then a qualified solicitor will review their work, so you should end up being charged a similar amount/less than if the solicitor had done the full piece of work themselves as their rate is so much higher than a trainees.
Also love to point out the £185.00 an hour doesn’t go in my pocket, I wish