Costs in family law

Legal advice can be expensive. However, obtaining legal advice upon separation is the best way to secure yours and your family’s future.

Your initial appointment is always free. We will take your initial instructions, give preliminary advice and discuss the likely costs of your case for full transparency.

We will always advise you on your options to save legal costs. This may include a referral to mediation.

Fixed Fees

We always encourage parties to agree matters where possible, when there is an agreement in place we are able to act for a fixed fee. This will help keep your costs low and manageable. Work that can be carried out for a fixed fee is as follows;

• Divorce (Petitioner): £600 plus VAT and Court fee
• Divorce (Respondent): £300 plus VAT
• Clean Break Order: £1,000 plus VAT and Court fee
• Pension Sharing Order: £200 plus VAT
• Pre-Nuptial Agreement: £1,000 plus VAT
• Parenting Plan: £800 plus VAT.
• Cohabitation Agreement: £1,000 plus VAT
• Deed of Separation: £800 plus VAT
• Change of Name Deed: £90 plus VAT.

Please note that fixed fee work assumes that matters proceeds without difficulty or delay. It does not include preliminary advice or correspondence. Not all divorce settlements will be appropriate for the fixed-fee option, in which case we offer an hourly rate package that is tailored to meet your specific needs.

Hourly rate

For more complex cases or where matters are not agreed from the outset, work will be charged at an extremely competitive hourly rate of £250 plus VAT.

Following your initial appointment, we will discuss your circumstances in detail and evaluate how much work is involved. We will provide you with an estimate of the likely cost for your matter.

We’ll only ever charge you for the time spent working on your matter, along with any third party expenses such as court fees. We’ll record time spent on actions including the following:

• Attending meetings and holding phone calls with you
• Considering, preparing and working on papers for your case
• Writing letters, emails, making phone calls and attending meetings with others involved in your case, including travel time
• Attending and representing you at court

Whilst we endeavour to make estimates as accurate as possible, it can be difficult to predict how your case will progress, as it often depends on how the other party responds and cooperates. We will continually review your matter and advise if anything changes.

As a basic guide;

• Simple cases (ones that settle out of court) – up to £2,000 excluding VAT
• Medium complexity cases (cases that settle in the early stages of Court) proceedings – Between £2,000 and £5,000 excluding VAT and disbursements.
• High Complexity cases (cases that go to final hearing)- Between £5,000 to £15,000 excluding VAT and disbursements.

Disbursements

These are fees of expenses paid to third parties.

Examples of Court fee’s (as of November 2024) that may be payable in your case are as follows;

• Filing a divorce petition or civil partnership dissolution  £593
• Filing a financial order other than by consent  £303
• Filing a financial order by consent  £58
• Application within children’s proceedings £255
• Application to enforce an order within children’s proceedings  £255

Court fee’s are payable upfront prior to an application or petition being filed.

Sometimes it is more effective to instruct a Barrister to conduct a hearing rather than using a Solicitor.  Their fees range widely, depending on their experience and specialism.  The lowest fees tend to be around £900 for a one hour hearing plus VAT but for the very best specialist the fees can be several thousands of pounds.  It is very important to ensure the right Barrister at the right level of expertise is instructed.

The Barrister’s fees are always agreed in advance and we always require you to pay them to us in advance of the Hearing.

If a case is particularly complicated, we may recommend obtaining a Barrister’s advice or opinion. Fees for this will vary depending on the Barrister’s experience and specialism.

Other disbursements that may arise during your case are expert reports such as pension actuarial reports, tax advice or valuation reports by chartered surveyors We will obtain a range of quotes for your consideration and agree costs in advance before instructing a third party. Fees will be payable in advance of any report being released.

The awarding of costs in Family Proceedings

Under FPR 2010 part 28.3(5) the general rule in financial remedy proceedings is that the court will not make an order requiring one party to pay the costs of another party. The general principle is that there are no winners or losers in the Family Courts.

However,  FPR 2010 part 28.3(6) states that the court may make an order requiring one party to pay the costs of another party at any stage of the proceedings where it considers it appropriate to do so because of the conduct of a party in relation to the proceedings (whether before or during them). We will advise you if at any point, the other party’s conduct gives rise to a costs application.

Should there become grounds for a costs application, your legal fees remain payable. A successful costs award will be reimbursed to you following settlement of any outstanding charges on account.

Legal Aid

The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) came into force in 2013. It had a dramatic impact on the provision of legal aid in England and Wales, and has meant that legal aid is no longer available for a wide range of legal issues.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer legal aid to our clients, as we do not have a contract with the Legal Aid Agency. If however, we believe you may be entitled to legal aid, we will advise you upfront and provide you with contact details for legal aid providers.