Divorce (uncontested)
Online Package
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| Divorce is a legal process ending the contract of marriage. At the end of your Divorce you will no longer be married.
It is very important to us that you understand at the start of your case that a Divorce will not deal with the division of your house, assets, income, pensions etc. or the future arrangements for your children.
To deal with your matrimonial finances you will need to instruct us to represent you in this regard. As lawyers, we call this process Ancillary Relief. In relation to Ancillary Relief we offer package fees to suit various needs and also carry out work at our hourly rate. |
What does uncontested mean? |
The majority of divorces proceed on an uncontested basis. This means that both you and your spouse give consent to the marriage being ended. An uncontested divorce is dealt with by the court without the need for any court hearings and is therefore a paper process. |
What your divorce package includes:- |
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Legal advice and support. This is provided by telephone, email or letter |
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The preparation of the Divorce Petition and accompanying documentation, preparation of the affidavit in support of the petition and the application for the Decree Absolute |
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Court fees for starting your proceedings (the “issue fee”) and the court fee for the Decree Absolute. |
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Telephone calls, emails and letters to/from you, your spouses' solicitor and the court. |
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Legal Fees £ 550.00
VAT £ 96.25
Court Fees £ 340.00
Total £986.25 |
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| What's not included: |
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Face to face meetings (appointments and court attendances) are not included in our online packages. If you require a personal appointment with one of our lawyers please contact us to arrange an appointment using the link on the homepage. You will need to choose the standard Divorce Package rather than one of our online services. |
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Swear Fees
You will need to swear on oath or affirm that the Divorce Petition is true. Your lawyer, as part of your package, will provide you with the document that you have to swear and advise you how to swear it. To swear the affidavit you will need to attend either a court office (this is a free service) or a solicitor (other than FLC) for this the solicitor is likely to make a small charge of £7.00. This is entirely normal and is a legal requirement that if we prepare an affidavit for you that you cannot swear it in front of us. |
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In the average case it will not be necessary for you to have the following items and it is for this reason that they are not included in the package. In the unusual circumstance that you do need to take an additional step your lawyer will advise you what you need and the cost of the action needed. |
| The possible add ons" to your package are: |
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Court Hearings
If you get into a dispute with your spouse, as to whether or not they should reimburse you your legal fees of divorce (known as your “claim for costs”), the court will require you to file a statement and attend a hearing where the court will decide whether to order your spouse to pay your costs and the amount of costs to be paid. Should you not wish to deal with this yourself you can instruct your lawyer to draft the required statement and represent you at court. This will be charged at our hourly rate unless we agree a package “add on” price with you. |
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Personal Service / Bailiff Service
of the Divorce papers upon your spouse
In certain circumstances your spouse may ignore/fail to acknowledge the Divorce Petition. If this happens your lawyer may advise you to have your spouse personally served. The court Bailiff charges a small fee of £20.00 to do this, although they have a lot of other duties and this may mean that serving your papers takes a few weeks. The alternative is to employ a Process Server, who will act just for you and who will promptly locate your spouse and serve them with the papers. This can often cost between £100 - £250 + VAT. |
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Application for Deemed Service
This is a court application, usually made by post, for an order stating that the court is satisfied that your spouse has received the Divorce papers. This will only be applicable to certain cases. Again you lawyer will advise you if this action is necessary and provide an estimate of charges at this time. |
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AND of course it is likely that you will need to have advice and assistance in formalising your financial position upon divorce. Even if you have no assets to divide it is important that you obtain a “clean break” from your spouse in a financial sense, simply divorcing is not enough. |
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