Costs, they must think I am crazy!

I went to meet my barrister, my solicitor also attended.

We were there for just under 2 hours, the solicitors costs for conference with counsel inc VAT was £478.80

The travelling costs for said solicitor, whose office is 38.6 miles x 2 away was £433.20. I know petrol is expensive but for goodness sake am I wrong to feel this is extortion?

Barrister fees for conference £840.00

An expensive day in the office, to say the least! & I am unable to afford heating or eat so much for getting legal advise and giving full financial disclosure. God help future divorcees.

Giving up now, no money left.
NWTT.

Have you considered representing yourself? You would get all the guidance and support you would need from people here.

I am going to do that Ruth, Dukey and LMM know the case. I was referred to this sol after I spoke to Ian on the Wiki helpline. I really can not believe travel costs to such a degree, a Consultant working in charge of an Intensive Care Unit all night would not get that amount.

Thank you for your reply.
NWTT.

Sorry to hear about your hassle,I had similar bother with my 1st Solicitor, I have learnt by my mistakes.
She was actually recommended,1st appointment was for 2 hours @ £240 hour+ VAT, she charged me for 2 hours and 12mins !
As I was away asked for paperwork to be emailed, that was full of spelling mistakes etc.
Then she tried to charge me £84 for one telephone call.
I took her on and won, a beautcians appointment for 2 hours would not result in a charge of 2 hours and 12 minutes, not good form to conduct business using an egg timer.
Her excuse for spelling mistakes was she was in a hurry, as a retired HCP I was always in a hurry, and would not have done patients notes incorrectly because I was in a hurry, so as I told her if she signed the letter was professionally responsible for it s content.
When asked for transcript of £84 telephone call, that charge suddenly disappeared.
I also threatened her with Law Society/press.
Most of these large firms have pages of terms and conditions, most of which come under unreasonable contracts.
It is unusual to query Solicitors bills, personally I don t understand why.
With regard to transport suggest find out 1st class train fare, mileage @ 60p a mile and the cost of a stretch Limo for journey.
Then email them all with reality checks
Please do NOT give up you are worth more than this.
Good Luck.

Thank you cliasmol, I did find out about a stretch limo, would not have cost as much

Its so sad when you put your trust in them. My ex stopped paying SM, he is a wealthy man living a life of luxury, I will be forced to move and put my animals to sleep without the SM.
((((
NWTT.

I do feel like you have the bones stripped away when you go down the legal/contested route and use Solicitors when you argue of 10/20K and get a 5K bill was it worth it?

However .... when your in dispute about 100K it probably is.

I was given legal aid to apply for my divorce (thank you) I was not given legal aid to use the services of a Barrister or represent me in court, I had to attend court so they could explain to me why my Consent Order had been refused as we had used mediation to draw up a consent order.

I hated the judge who basically said either sort it out at mediation (and gave use a 3 month timescale to do it) or fill out a form E (I would have had a stat charge placed on the house) which I could not afford.

My only words of wisdom are do you really want to throw good money after bad? Settle as quickly as possible and don''t pay the school fees of Barristers if at all possible.

I really do think that some people are totally abused by the system, spending money you don''t need to spend means no one wins. Self Rep if you can, its very hard but you can get help.

I hated the Judge who kicked out my first application for a consent order, in hindsight ....she was correct to do so and probably saved me alot of expense, my Sol did not give a jot, he hoped I would be a cash cow and the clever Judge was having none of it.

Thank you for your reply sulkypants,

Very rarely do I post about personal problems, mine was a long marriage and I have been forced into this situation by my ex.

My deepest concern is for the welfare of my animals, I really do not care what happens to me. I have no option of "backing out", he has made an application for dismissal/variation of order. What will be, will be.
NWTT