How much does divorce cost?

You and your ex-partner might agree on how to divide your assets, but this agreement is not legally binding unless a court approves a consent order.

If the assets in the case are minimal, or the parties have already decided who gets what, then it may just be a case of getting a solicitor to draw up a clean break consent order to prevent either party from claiming against the other in the future.

The document still needs to be prepared and approved by the court. Legal fees could range from £1,250 to £2,500 to get this completed. Please note this is an estimated figure and the price will vary based on the circumstances of the case.

If there is a dispute, achieving a financial settlement could require considerable work.

You will likely need to go through a disclosure exercise to establish what assets each party has to achieve a fair settlement. Depending on the assets’ complexity, this may be a complicated process or relatively straightforward.

Often, the more complex the family finances, the greater the costs to reach a settlement.

It may be necessary to obtain independent expert advice concerning the value of a property, business interests, pensions or other assets which will have cost implications.

The usual arrangement is each party meets one-half of the fee payable to an expert. Most cases are resolved by negotiation – generally via solicitors – once mutual financial disclosure has taken place.

Once a comprehensive settlement is reached, this may be set out in a draft consent order and sent to the court for approval.

Ultimately, if no agreement can be reached, then the court will need to decide who gets what. If a case goes all the way to a final hearing, which is rare, it would not be unusual for legal fees to be over £20,000.

Therefore, it is important to always think about the cost-benefit analysis. There is little point in spending thousands of pounds fighting over something worth less than that.

If you reach an agreement, particularly where only one of you intends to appoint a solicitor, it is often the case that the legal costs incurred are shared.

The applicant or joint applicant can ask the court to order that the other party pays their legal costs relating to the divorce. Alternatively, they could request that the costs be divided equally, or just the court fee is shared.

However, it is necessary to make a separate application to the court to ask for a costs order, and for this reason, they are rarely sought.

The applicant or joint applicant can ask the court to order that the other party pays their legal costs relating to the divorce or request that the costs be divided equally, or just the court fee is to be shared.

However, it is necessary to make a separate application to the court to ask for a costs order, and for this reason, they are rarely sought.

If the applicant wishes to apply for costs against the respondent, then the best practice is to reach an agreement on costs before the application is issued with the court.

If costs cannot be agreed upon at this stage, the applicant can include a claim for full costs in the application itself.

Should costs be agreed at the conditional order stage, a ‘costs order’ can be made. If costs cannot be agreed upon, the applicant can continue with their application for costs, and the court will decide.

While it is possible to apply for a costs order in certain circumstances, the application’s outcome cannot be guaranteed.

At each stage of the court process, both parties are required to provide a breakdown of their costs. This will enable you to compare your outlay with that of your spouse.

The court will consider if the costs claimed are reasonable and look at both parties’ conduct before and during the divorce process.

If a costs order is made, the respondent is under a legal obligation to comply and pay. If there is a failure to do so, this could result in enforcement action being necessary.

If the respondent does not agree to pay towards the divorce costs, it could cause unnecessary issues, which may increase costs and delays.

Therefore, the best practice is to try and reach an agreement regarding the cost of divorce before the divorce application is even sent to the court to be issued.

By doing this, you can reduce the respondent’s likelihood of challenging the issue of costs later on down the line.