Should I find a new solicitor

Initially engaged my solicitor to sort out financial settlement with my ex.Little was ever mentioned about the need to divorce .Due to escalating costs with solicitor ex and I agreed to sort out divorce between ourselves .Since I informed solicitor of this a few weeks ago I have not heard a thing from her,despite querying at the time what should happen next regarding the financial settlement etc. I have never been very happy with this solicitor, having spent near on 2k we are no closer to settlement , and infact I do not have a clue where we are up to .She has never requested ex fills in form E, sending letters back and forth asking financial questions instead., .However having spent this much so far I cant afford to start with another solicitor from scratch .Any advice gratefully received.

You can ask for your file and if you are paid up to date it should be released to you so that you can see what has been going on.

If you are not paid up to date then they will probably refuse stating that they have a lien on the documents and it will only be released on payment of the full account.

Thanks , yes I am all paid up to date.Very frustrated at not getting anywhere despite money I have spent, and now the silence.Nothing was ever said either about how I would need to have the divorce finalised before a full settlement agreement could be reached , I discovered this myself.She mentioned that perhaps we should start divorce proceedings , but never made it clear as to why.Dont know whether to start with someone new , but it would be even more of an expense .Feel really frustrated and confused.

It sounds as though your solicitor has forgotten to cover the basics which seem fairly obvious when you do the job day in, day out but one should never assume..

Not explaining the purpose of the divorce process and the link with the financial settlement was a failing. However, it is common to reach a financial settlement before finalising the divorce but usually divorce proceedings are issued and Decree Nisi is obtained before attempting to finish everything off.

It is also common to communicate with the other party rather than requesting a Form E. There is no requirement to complete Forms E until proceedings are issued but some people find it beneficial to complete the form in order to compare with the other side''s on a like for like basis which is the primary intention of the form.

If a party is not inclined to settle or is being less than forthcoming with financial information, issuing proceedings will import a timescale to the case as court Directions are made. The process is still lengthy though and a couple of hearings plus negotiations often takes 18 months. My local court is taking 8 months to list a final hearing alone - this does leave plenty of time to negotiate though.

Charles