Legal costs can quckly spiral once you start communicating with your ex through solicitors and if you are heading for Court your case can eat up a lot of your savings very quickly.
Top Tips
- Confirm the exact price per hour that your solicitor charges, detail of exactly what that covers and how you will be invoiced
- Remember ‘fixed fee’ packages are often based on straight-forward cases – not ones where the ex is likely to dispute every little thing. Costs may increase if there are additional hearings, any additional legal support is needed or if there is lots of interim communication between parties.
- Collate your questions and communication with your solicitor so they only have to read one email, not several, as you may get charged for each individual one they read and send. Remember you don’t always have to respond to communication from your ex. Just because they send a letter/email to your solicitor, it doesn’t mean you have to answer.
- Ask your solicitor if they provide any payment plans or alternative options for payments- always worth an ask!
- Remember you don’t always have to use a solicitor for everything. There may be actions you can do yourself to reduce costs,such as collating all your evidence together and pulling your Court bundle together. There are online tools such as https://www.bundledocs.com/ that are free up to a point or cost perhaps £20 a month after which you can cancel and give you a professional looking bundle.
- You can also use cheaper, alternative support like McKenzie Friends, Divorce Consultants or you can represent yourself. Solicitors are not the only legal option for representation these days and there are other options apart from Court such as arbitration and hybrid mediation. Do your research.
- Be mindful – if your Court hearing is cancelled or adjourned you will still need to pay the costs of your Barrister and/or solicitor. Think about whether you need a Barrister for each hearing or could you use your solicitor or represent yourself if it is just a quick hearing over a specific issue?
- Check out if you are entitled to Legal Aid too – the rules have recently changed around this so always worth a check! https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid
- Consider complimentary support – divorce coaching rates are often cheaper than solicitor’s fees (I know I am!) . A session with me costs about ¼ of what a solicitor charges, so if it’s something I can advise on it’s often cheaper to call me than your solicitor, which saves you money in the long run 😊Let your solicitor focus on the legal matters and we can discuss the process, decision-making, how to present yourself in Court or at mediation and we can debrief afterwards to ensure you are 100% confident in managing this stressful situation.
- Don’t use Court for everything. If you can find a way to manage your ex’s behaviour without going to Court, then do. I spend lots of time coaching clients on this! It will save you time, money and stress.
Moving on
Remember also, legal proceedings are only one aspect of dealing with your ex. It can be one of the most stressful aspects,of course and you may have to go down this route, but don’t let it become all-consuming.
Think clearly step by step, always put the children first in any decisions you make and above all try to move forwards with your life. Don’t let litigation stop you from recovering and getting your life back on track.
If you want to book a 1:1 with me so I can help you, just email me or complete the form on the front page of the website.
