And for a fixed price?
Because this is the last hurdle...
and you're ready for a fresh start!
And for a fixed price?
Because this is the last hurdle...
and you're now ready for fresh start!
Get my FREE GUIDE and learn how to navigate this difficult time with grace and ease!
Yes it's the end of a chapter of your life...
...but it's also the beginning of a new story!
No one expects to end up divorced, but a different life path is unfolding for you.
One full of new experiences and possibilities! Can you feel that on some level?
Even though it might still feel a little raw, as you adjust to your separation.
The best gift you can give yourselves and your children, to protect everyone's emotional wellbeing,
is to untangle your marriage in a calm, civilised and respectful way.
And doing so makes it a lot easier for you to part on friendly terms.
So you can move on with your new lives as amicable co-parents.
For the sake of your children.
Did you know that the best way to have a fair and amicable divorce is by sharing a lawyer?
And that by doing so you can have a drama free divorce?
An easier time for the whole family?
Is that want you want?
Contrary to what you might have heard you don't need to instruct separate lawyers.
Not if you're both wanting a civilised separation and an amicable post-divorce relationship.
My shared lawyer divorce service is specifically designed to help you work out a fair and respectful separation.
If you answered 'A' or 'B' for all of the questions above...
then my shared lawyer service is the perfect solution for you!
Susan has been a fantastic help in sorting our Financial Consent Order. The advice and assistance she gave has been invaluable.
She has acted in both our interests and provided great advice to us both. I cannot recommend her enough...thank you Susan.
— Jaye
As a lawyer, a mum of 3, and an experienced relationship coach, I'm passionate about helping couples like you have an amicable and respectful divorce.
In a way that enables you to remain friendly for the future. For the well being of your children.
And I STRONGLY FEEL that a fair financial separation
is the bedrock of an amicable and respectful divorce!
Having an amicable divorce takes courage. It's not for everyone.
But you understand that a long combative (and expensive!) legal battle is rarely good for anyone - especially your children.
So if you're looking to untangle the legal and financial aspects of your relationship with dignity and grace, so when the dust settles, you can have a coffee together...
...and look back on this tricky period with some pride, then read on to find out about the next steps and how I can help you achieve an amicable and respectful divorce.
Before starting the separation process I'd had a free consultation with a solicitor which was a daunting and felt a bit "much" for our own circumstances.
Ours was a simple and fairly amicable situation...and once we'd decided together to start divorce proceedings we agreed that applying online ourselves was the best option.
We had very few shared assets and the legal fees we had each been quoted seemed disproportionate to our circumstances.
However, no matter how amicable our separation was it was still a daunting task to do with no legal support at all, especially when we started talking about how to separate our joint assets.
So I began to seek alternatives to the traditional route. I found Susan from Divorcing Amicably who supports works with separating couples together.
It meant that the whole process has been so much easier and transparent for all concerned.
We've managed to stay amicable and we've been supported throughout without the need for two separate legal bills!
I can't recommend highly enough — Kelly
My focus is on helping you decide how to split your finances
You don't need a lawyer to end your marriage. It's just a form filling exercise and you can do this yourselves through the Government Website: Get a divorce: How to apply - GOV.UK .
That's the easy part.
Untangling your financial relationship is probably the most difficult part of dissolving your life together.
But if you don't know what a 'fair financial split' means in your situation or your relationship is such that you can't agree a split together then I'm here to help.
"Thank you so much for making this happen.
I'm very happy that we have finally got to an amicable agreement.
It's all quite overwhelming. I've just been taking in the finality of it all, over this weekend.
Again, thank you for your efforts and your patience. You got it done! "
— Jeff
Step 1 (Applying for your Divorce) is done via the Government website and costs £593.
I really recommend that you make a joint application. The whole process takes a minimum of 7 months from start to finish.
There is a 20 week reflection period between Step 1 (The Divorce application) and Step 2 (The application for a Conditional Order) - to give you time to be sure your marriage is really over.
There is a further 6 weeks between Step 2 (Obtaining your Conditional Order) and Step 3 (The application for your Final Order).
Once you receive your Final Order you are officially no longer 'Husband' and 'Wife'.
But this doesn't financially separate you both from each other.
And that's where I can help you.
You need to get me involved as early as possible as the process to split your finances runs alongside this 'ending your marriage' process.
3 Step Process To Splitting Your Finances
(This is the difficult part I'll help you with )
Starting the process to end your legal divorce is the easy part.
But untangling your financial relationship is probably the most difficult part of dissolving your marriage.
But don't worry! I'm here to help you understand what a 'fair financial split' means in your situation!
I've set out the 3 steps to my fair financial split process in more detail below but let's fast-forward a bit to see what you'll have at the end of your time with me:
At the end of this 3 step process to splitting your finances you'll have a legally binding court order approved by a judge, dividing up your marital finances in a way that's fair to both of you.
So you'll be free to move forward and build a new life.
And your then ex-husband or wife will have no claim on your future Euro Millions Lottery win (I have my fingers crossed for you!), any future inheritance or any other financial windfall coming your way :)
Here are the 3 steps I'll walk you through together:
I'll help you collate all the financial information you'll need to disclose to each other to work out the size of the marital pot you have to split.
Here's a non-exhaustive list of what you'll need to disclose:
- Money (savings, investments and life insurance)
- Property (the family home/investment properties)
- Household contents
- Cars
- Pensions
- Businesses
- Personal items (worth over £500)
- Debts, loans and credit cards
It can take a bit of time and effort to collate all your financial information but I expect you to be honest and transparent with each other, and with me.
My Financial Disclosure Process will make this step easy for you.
I will review the financial information you've each provided and ask all the questions needed to ensure
(a) your husband or wife has been honest with you about his or her finances/income/expenditure etc and
(b) to be sure he or she isn't over egging his or her financial needs going forward.
And then I will work with you both, over a series of joint meetings, to find a solution that's fair and acceptable to you both within the parameters of what's fair under English Law.
Every couple's situation is unique so taking armchair advice from your work colleagues and divorced friends isn't helpful or useful!
Once you have agreed your financial separation, I can help make your agreement legally binding.
Once you've come to an agreement, either will my help or on your own, I'll will draft you a 'Separation Agreement' to formalise what you've agreed as your proposed financial separation.
You both will review the Separation Agreement.
If you're happy with it you'll sign it and send it back to me ready to be turned into a Consent Order.
A Separation Agreement is legally enforceable as with any contract and is a commitment to each other to split your finances in accordance with its terms.
Once you have agreed your financial separation, I can turn what you've agreed into a court approved legally binding agreement: the Consent Order.
This the legal bit required to formalise what you've agreed and to ensure that it's legally binding.
I will write up the terms of your separation agreement in the way the court needs to approve it.
And if you're happy with the draft consent order, you'll both sign it. Then I will help you submit it to court along with all the accompanying documentation needed.
If the judge is happy that your proposed financial split as set out in the draft consent order is fair in your unique circumstances, the court will approve your consent order.
So what does this mean?
Unless you choose otherwise, your consent order will give you a clean break financially. So you can move forward with your new lives, as co-parents (and hopefully eventually as friends).
Now you can buy that winning Euro Millions Lottery Ticket!! :)
Here are the 3 steps I'll walk you through together:
I'll help you collate all the financial information you'll need to disclose to each other to work out the size of the marital pot you have to split.
Here's a non-exhaustive list of what you'll need to disclose:
- Money (savings, investments and life insurance)
- Property (the family home/investment properties)
- Household contents
- Cars
- Pensions
- Businesses
- Personal items (worth over £500)
- Debts, loans and credit cards
It can take a bit of time and effort to collate all your financial information but I expect you to be honest and transparent with each other, and with me.
My Financial Disclosure Process will make this step easy for you.
I will review the financial information you've each provided and ask all the questions needed to ensure
(a) your husband or wife has been honest with you about his or her finances/income/expenditure etc and
(b) to be sure he or she isn't over egging his or her financial needs going forward.
And then I will work with you both, over a series of joint meetings, to find a solution that's fair and acceptable to you both within the parameters of what's fair under English Law.
Every couple's situation is unique so taking armchair advice from your work colleagues and divorced friends isn't helpful or useful!
Once you have agreed your financial separation, I can help make your agreement legally binding.
Once you've come to an agreement, either will my help or on your own, I'll will draft you a 'Separation Agreement' to formalise what you've agreed as your proposed financial separation.
You both will review the Separation Agreement.
If you're happy with it you'll sign it and send it back to me ready to be turned into a Consent Order.
A Separation Agreement is legally enforceable as with any contract and is a commitment to each other to split your finances in accordance with its terms.
Once you have agreed your financial separation, I can turn what you've agreed into a court approved legally binding agreement: the Consent Order.
This the legal bit required to formalise what you've agreed and to ensure that it's legally binding.
I will write up the terms of your separation agreement in the way the court needs to approve it.
And if you're happy with the draft consent order, you'll both sign it. Then I will help you submit it to court along with all the accompanying documentation needed.
If the judge is happy that your proposed financial split as set out in the draft consent order is fair in your unique circumstances, the court will approve your consent order.
So what does this mean?
Unless you choose otherwise, your consent order will give you a clean break financially. So you can move forward with your new lives, as co-parents (and hopefully eventually as friends).
Now you can buy that winning Euro Millions Lottery Ticket!! :)
A Consent Order is a legally binding document, approved by the court, which records the agreement you've reached for your fair financial split.
It sets out how you've decided to divide your marital assets, debts, pensions, and income post divorce.
It will often include a ‘clean break’ clause, which prevents your soon to be ex from from bringing claims against your assets or income in the future.
2. Do we really need a Consent Order?
YES! Many people mistakenly believe they don’t need a Consent Order if they’ve agreed how to split their marital finances informally. However the risk of not having a consent order is that your soon to be ex can come back at a later date and ask for another slice of the marital finances.
For example, if you discover you're the next 'Mark Zuckerberg' and you set up a hugely successful business, get lucky with that Euro Millions lottery win I keep talking about! or come into an inheritance from a long lost Uncle Bob and you already have a Consent Order in place which includes a clean break clause, your soon to be ex-spouse wouldn't be able to claim any of your windfall.
Oh and Pensions can only be shared via a Consent Order too!
3. When do we apply for a Consent Order?
The earliest that a Consent Order can be submitted to the court is once you've received the Conditional Order (what used to be called the Decree Nisi) and this is at the mid-point of the divorce process, after the 20 week reflection period.
I recommend that the Consent Order is submitted prior to the application for a Final Order (what used to be called the Decree Absolute) which is the final step that formerly dissolves your marriage.
4. Okay we get it - but why do you offer a Separation Agreement as well - isn't a Consent Order enough on it's own?
Well yes you could just have a Consent Order but I like the couples I work with to have a Separation Agreement too, for two reasons:
(a) You might not be ready to finalise the divorce process for many reasons - perhaps you want to give your children more time to get used to the idea - perhaps you want to stop, take a breath, and reflect on whether this is actually what you want, but you still want to continue the process of agreeing how to separate the marital assets; or
(b) To stop your spouse going back on what's been agreed as part of our agreement facilitation meetings.
Sad to say but I have had a couple of clients where one spouse tried to go back on what had been agreed at the last minute before the consent order had been signed - purely to annoy the other.
However the fact that that spouse had signed a legally enforceable separation agreement meant that, had it come to it, the other spouse could have taken the Separation Agreement (properly agreed and signed) to court to have it enforced.
Luckily common sense prevailed in all instances and the Consent Order was signed eventually...however without a Separation Agreement in place we would have been back at square one after months of protracted negotiations (don't ask! - most couples come to sensible and fair agreements pretty quickly).
What Does This Cost?
I know that dissolving your marriage is a stressful enough of a process without you having to worry about mounting legal fees...
...and by that I mean legal fees charged on a 'per hour' basis, which is the way most law firms charge.
So I only offer fixed price divorce services.
And my shared lawyer amicable divorce service means you'll save thousands of pounds compared to what it would cost to instruct separate lawyers.
And tens of thousands of pounds compared to what it would cost to take your husband or wife to court to agree your financial split!
Do you want to learn more?
With my Divorce Facilitated Service I will first take you through Step 1 (the process of financial disclosure) to ensure we all understand the size of your marital pot.
Then I'll provide you with shared legal advice to help you understand the parameters of what's fair in your situation, and then help mediate the discussions between you both as you agree between you on how you two would like to separate your finances fairly (Step 2).
Knowing what 'fair' looks like, you'll feel empowered to agree a fair deal together as part of my lawyer-led negotiation sessions.
This is obviously a far cheaper option than risking drawn out, acrimonious and potentially very expensive court proceedings!
Then I'll do the legal bit (Step 3) which includes a Separation Agreement to reflect your agreement and a Consent Order to make that agreement legally binding.
Or alternatively with my Divorce Validated Service you can agree how you'd like to separate your finances together and by yourselves and have me provide you with expert shared legal advice as to whether what you've agreed is actually fair (and amalgamation of Step 1 and Step 2).
This option also includes a Separation Agreement to reflect your agreement and a Consent Order to make that agreement legally binding (Step 3).
I feel strongly that a fair financial separation is the bedrock of an amicable divorce.
I know the divorce process can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to face it alone.
I will help take the tension out of your financial discussions and help you both get clear on what a fair financial split should look like for your family. I will also do the legal work to make your agreement legally binding (with a clean break if appropriate).
So you can focus on starting afresh and building the futures each of you want - all whilst maintaining a friendly relationship for the sake of your children.
Are you ready for a chat? If so then reach out! Either via the form below
or email me at susan@divorcingamicably.co.uk.
This is the most expensive and acrimonious way to divorce and it can take a long time - years even!
The legal cost of going to court is around £40,000 per person (so £80,000 per couple) in London and £13,000 per person (so £26,000 per couple) outside of London.
That's money that would be better spent on your children and their future in my opinion!
Yes, you could instruct solicitors from two separate law firms to act on your behalf.
Your own solicitor can sort out your divorce and agree your financial separation with your spouse's solicitor.
You'll need to chose this option if you need your own legal protection (for example if there's domestic violence in the relationship) or if you suspect your spouse is hiding assets.
The downside is you'll be paying for two lawyers. One for you and one for your spouse.
And this will cost on average £8000 per person (so £16,000 per couple) for two solicitors to help with your divorce and to negotiate your financial agreement on your behalf.
And depending on the lawyers you chose this route can also become acrimonious.
And the more acrimonious your divorce the more it will cost....and the harder it will be to have an amicable post-divorce relationship.
Please think carefully about how this will affect your children!
And remember that you've come to this website because you want an amicable divorce for the sake of your children.
Yes, you could hire a mediator - an independent professional who will meet with you both and help you come to an agreement.
But the mediator won't be able to help you with the legal side of separating so you'll need extra professional help on top of the mediator's fees.
'Divorcing Amicably' offers a more comprehensive service than mediation because I do all that a mediator can do and, as a lawyer, I can also prepare your legal documents and manage the consent order process on your behalf.
You'll be able to finalise all the divorce paperwork yourself. But you may need legal support to agree your financial separation.
And you will definitely need legal support to make such agreement legal (via a consent order).
The court charges a fee of court fee of £593 to file for a divorce and a fee of £58 to submit a Consent Order.
These are standard fees set by the government.
Depending on the value of your pensions you may need to have your pensions valued by an actuary.
You'll also need to factor in the costs for a conveyancer to change the ownership of the family home if one of you keeps the house post divorce.
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