Help advising a mate on how to get legal advice
Discussion
I'm hoping PH can help me with some info... I'm trying to help a mate get some legal advice and I'll be honest I don't know enough about how things work - asking here so I don't say something incorrect or give him bad advice.
In a nutshell he and his wife are divorcing - they've agreed to do things amicably, but I still think he needs some form of legal advice to sanity check whether things are being worked out fairly and that nothing has been overlooked. The amounts they're dealing with aren't enormous in actual monetary terms.
She's the one who's initiated the process and they've agreed to do an uncontested divorce - things have simply gone south between them (beyond recovery unfortunately). She has engaged a solicitor for the process of doing the divorce paperwork - I'm guessing they might also be advising her in some capacity too.
He did have an initial meeing with a solicitor early on - the 'first hour' at a discounted rate. They are now asking for £2500 on account for any further engagement (which is fair enough) but I wonder whether they're working on the basis that they're expecting he needs/wants ongoing representation when I think what he really needs right now is someone he can come back to and say, "This is what we've agreed between us - does this look right..?"
I've never had to use a solicitor for anything like this so I don't know what the usual procedure/process would be. The paradox is that there's enough that needs discussing and agreeing in some form of binding document but significant legal costs could easily wipe out much of the assets they need to divide up - thereby making the process moot; they're both trying not to get to a stage where everything's 'gone legal' for that reason.
I'm hoping PH can provide advice on the best way forward for him in this situation and what the usual process would be from a solicitor's perspective?
In a nutshell he and his wife are divorcing - they've agreed to do things amicably, but I still think he needs some form of legal advice to sanity check whether things are being worked out fairly and that nothing has been overlooked. The amounts they're dealing with aren't enormous in actual monetary terms.
She's the one who's initiated the process and they've agreed to do an uncontested divorce - things have simply gone south between them (beyond recovery unfortunately). She has engaged a solicitor for the process of doing the divorce paperwork - I'm guessing they might also be advising her in some capacity too.
He did have an initial meeing with a solicitor early on - the 'first hour' at a discounted rate. They are now asking for £2500 on account for any further engagement (which is fair enough) but I wonder whether they're working on the basis that they're expecting he needs/wants ongoing representation when I think what he really needs right now is someone he can come back to and say, "This is what we've agreed between us - does this look right..?"
I've never had to use a solicitor for anything like this so I don't know what the usual procedure/process would be. The paradox is that there's enough that needs discussing and agreeing in some form of binding document but significant legal costs could easily wipe out much of the assets they need to divide up - thereby making the process moot; they're both trying not to get to a stage where everything's 'gone legal' for that reason.
I'm hoping PH can provide advice on the best way forward for him in this situation and what the usual process would be from a solicitor's perspective?
If you formally "instruct" a solicitor then it's "blank cheque" time, the two solicitors will write to and fro, each letter (with associated wrok) costing £200 ish, and the costs are totally uncontrolled.
Yes, this is the way to do it:-
"what he really needs right now is someone he can come back to and say, "This is what we've agreed between us - does this look right..?""
... and don't tell your solicitor who the other one is.
Yes, this is the way to do it:-
"what he really needs right now is someone he can come back to and say, "This is what we've agreed between us - does this look right..?""
... and don't tell your solicitor who the other one is.
I found this website and the forums really useful when going through a divorce 10 years ago to get knowledge on the processes, pitfalls, what was considered fair etc, and used their fixed fee service to manage the application and get some advice.
https://divorce.wikivorce.com/
Appreciate it's not exactly what you are asking for but gives a valuable insight (IMHO)
https://divorce.wikivorce.com/
Appreciate it's not exactly what you are asking for but gives a valuable insight (IMHO)
Appreciate the comments etc, have sent him the link to wikivorce - not had an in-depth look but from what I read I think it could be extremely helpful to him.
The solicitor firm he's met with are a well-rated corporate operation with offices across the South - I wonder whether given that they're trying not to go 'full attack' with each other, he might do better speaking to a smaller (perhaps local?) firm on a slightly less formal basis?
The solicitor firm he's met with are a well-rated corporate operation with offices across the South - I wonder whether given that they're trying not to go 'full attack' with each other, he might do better speaking to a smaller (perhaps local?) firm on a slightly less formal basis?
Funk said:
Appreciate the comments etc, have sent him the link to wikivorce - not had an in-depth look but from what I read I think it could be extremely helpful to him.
The solicitor firm he's met with are a well-rated corporate operation with offices across the South - I wonder whether given that they're trying not to go 'full attack' with each other, he might do better speaking to a smaller (perhaps local?) firm on a slightly less formal basis?
I'm not convinced there's any magic formula in this. More formal, less formal is not a helpful concept I feel. The solicitor firm he's met with are a well-rated corporate operation with offices across the South - I wonder whether given that they're trying not to go 'full attack' with each other, he might do better speaking to a smaller (perhaps local?) firm on a slightly less formal basis?
Dining go to the (a) solicitor and say what you want
Then debate it and come to an agreement on how to proceed or not.
If you want a "review the draft deal" service, ask for that!
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