Form D8 section 4

Hi after having a meeting with a solicitor yesterday and her dropping the fact that it would cost me in the region of £25000 to get my husband out of my life I am going down the road of DIY divorce but with the help of a solicitor when required.

I am just filling out the form D8and in part 4 it mentions "other proceedings" my husband did file for divorce last year and then withdrew it because it wasn''t what he wanted (more likely he discovered what he was going to loose) and I agreed to give it another go, well 12 months down the line and it is worse than ever. anyway, do i need to put this in part 4???

Thanks

Well, first off I''d speak to another solicitor - a divorce is normally nowhere near £25,000 and even if you have fully contested proceedings about finances or children you''d be unlucky for it to be that high!

secondly, - yes, put it in and note that it was withdrawn

Hi Thanks

it is the second solicitor i have spoken to and both said the same, he is going to fully contest it etc etc and it is going to cost me a fortune which i don''t have i need to get this started asap as my mum is currently dying and i am looking after her and she wants to know that i am going to be ok after she is gone so the sooner i do this the sooner i know she will be happy and not worry about me.

For a fully contested trial I could well believe this would cost £25k just for dealing with the finances.

TBagpuss is obviously very reasonable in her charges!

Using my basic rules of thumb – I can see the costs projectly thusly:-

£25,000.00
-£3,000.00 Less cost of barrister for final hearing (and a conference beforehand)
-£255.00 Less court issue fee

---

£21,745.00 Sub total left for solicitors costs

Based on the FDR costing twice the cost of the FDR and the FDR costing twice the Final hearing i.e. one seventh, two sevenths and four sevenths (this is a rough guide to costs which I find to be reliable. If you instruct an expensive solicitor and your cost to FDA are £20k (I’ve seen this happen) you will be in for a rough ride if you have to go to final hearing).

£21,745.00 / 7 = £3106.43

£3106.43 (£2588.69 + VAT) FDA costs
£6212.86 (£5177.38 + VAT) FDR cost
£12425.75 (£10354.77 + VAT) Final hearing cost

The above is an average example. A straightforward case involving the FMH as the only asset will be a lot lower whereas a case involving multiple properties, pensions, international assets, company assets etc will be much higher. Naturally, the parties can reach an agreement at any time in which case later, more expensive, stages can be avoided.

You need to bear in mind that the above example is based on costs after issue of proceedings. If the parties spend a few months negotiating this adds to the cost but can focus the issue and some of the disclosure will have been dealt with so costs can be saved. However, if you are negotiating beyond 6 months without progress you end up with diminishing returns and issuing proceedings can help focus the parties’ minds.

Charles

Thanks for that Charles, the decision i have come to is to do as much as i can myself and keep dipping into advice when and where needed, the solicitor yesterday kindly wrote everything down and marked where she thought i would definately need to see her.

I am expecting a rough ride with the STBX as he and his family has money and I don''t but money isn''t everything

Hi! I agree with Charles £25,000 is about right for fd,fdr,fh .