Financial Settlement Divorce

When you split up from your husband or wife you need a financial settlement and a financial court order. A financial settlement can be negotiated or decided on by a judge if you cannot reach an agreement.

Whether you reach a financial settlement by agreement or after issuing financial court proceedings it’s essential to understand your financial settlement legal costs. In this blog, our North West family law solicitors explain financial settlement costs.

For family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.

How much should a divorce cost?

Your no-fault divorce is normally an agreed fixed fee. Divorce solicitors can offer you a fixed fee divorce because there is a standard procedure to follow to help you secure your divorce.

In addition to your no-fault divorce legal costs, you may have additional legal fees:

Financial settlement
Legal advice on living arrangements for your children
Injunction costs if there has been domestic abuse in your relationship

How much should a financial court order cost?

It is impossible to offer everyone one fixed legal fee for a financial court order because there are so many variables, such as:

Your ex-partner won’t give financial disclosure
Your former spouse is hiding assets
Your ex won’t sensibly negotiate

If you can reach a financial settlement our divorce solicitors may be able to offer a fixed fee financial court order. If you can’t agree on how assets are split our specialists will give you a cost quote for court representation based on what we know about the complexities of your family finances.

What is a fixed fee financial court order?

A fixed fee financial court order is when your financial settlement lawyer has agreed to obtain a financial court order for you at a fixed cost. That’s normally where you have reached a financial agreement through:

Solicitor negotiations
Family mediation
Direct discussions

Fixed fee financial court orders at Evolve Family Law

At Evolve Family Law we offer three types of fixed fees for financial court orders. The financial court order fixed fees reflect the amount of work involved in securing your financial order:

Tier 1 – an agreed financial settlement without complicated assets
Tier 2 – an agreed financial court order with more complex assets, such as a pension share
Tier 3 – bespoke fixed fee quote as your agreed financial settlement involves a trading family company or there are international assets

Our divorce solicitors can explain the fixed fee for your financial court order so you know how much you will spend in total fixed fees for your no-fault divorce and agreed financial court order.

Why can’t I get a fixed fee for representation in financial proceedings to obtain a financial court order?

If you haven’t been able to reach a financial settlement with your husband or wife then one of you may need to apply to court for a financial court order.

Every financial application is different but normally there are three financial court hearings:

First directions appointment
Financial dispute resolution hearing
Final hearing

Some couples have extra financial court hearings, such as:

Injunction application to stop your spouse from transferring or selling assets
Interim spousal maintenance because temporary maintenance can’t be agreed
Extra financial disclosure hearing because your ex refuses to disclose all their assets
Third-party involvement such as parents with a financial interest in the family home or the trustees of a discretionary trust

Why don’t divorce solicitors offer fixed fees for representation in financial court proceedings?

It’s hard to offer a fair fixed fee for representation in non-agreed financial court proceedings because there are so many variables, such as:

Time to investigate if assets are complex such as family businesses or discretionary trusts
Time for final hearings as the final hearing could be a day or a week in length
The amount of paperwork as the documents to check can run to hundreds or thousands of pages
The need for experts such as pension actuaries, forensic accountants or barristers

Fixed fees may not be fair to you when there are so many unknowns. For example:

You and your ex may settle at the first court hearing
Things may not be as complicated as they first appeared

At Evolve Family Law we provide a financial settlement cost quote based on the information you give us. That quote is based on our hourly published charges. The fees can be broken down into stages and court dates. The fees can be reviewed as your financial court proceedings progress. For example, if you need to apply to court to enforce a financial court order.

Understanding your divorce and financial settlement legal fees

Our divorce solicitors believe it’s important to understand your legal fees. That way you can help keep them under control. Judges sometimes warn warring husbands and wives that they are at risk of spending too much on legal fees. In the recent case of LI v FT (Maintenance Pending Suit: Costs) [2024] EWFC 342 (B) (19 July 2024) the judge pleaded with a divorcing couple to rein in their legal spending before they ran out of money.

This case is an extreme example as the couple had spent £40,000 in fees in a month and could not continue to afford that level of legal expenditure despite the husband’s annual salary of £350,000 plus bonuses.

The judge said every pound the couple spent fighting each other was a pound that would no longer be available for them and their children. That’s something important to remember as while you don’t want to be a push over you also don’t want your divorce solicitors to be the only winner in your battle to get a fair financial settlement.

At Evolve Family Law our divorce solicitors welcome inquiries to discuss how we can help you secure an agreed financial court order or represent you in financial proceedings and to give you information about costs and timescales.

For family law advice call our team of specialist divorce lawyers or complete our online enquiry form.