Do you need a solicitor for a divorce?

The divorce application, step by step

Since the law changed, no one has to allege adultery or unreasonable behaviour. One spouse applies, or both apply jointly, stating that the marriage has broken down irretrievably. The other spouse cannot defend it on the ground that the marriage has not broken down.

The mechanics are:

1. Apply, online or by post, for £628.
2. Wait 20 weeks from the start of proceedings. The Matrimonial Causes Act says a party may not confirm they want the conditional order before that period ends.
3. Apply for the conditional order, formerly the decree nisi.
4. Wait 6 weeks from the conditional order. The final order may not be made before that period ends.
5. Apply for the final order, formerly the decree absolute, which ends the marriage.

Around seven months, then, before the marriage is over, and none of those steps requires a lawyer. Help with fees reduces or removes the £628 depending on income and savings.

Why the money needs a solicitor

The divorce ends the marriage. It does not touch the money, and financial claims between former spouses do not expire with the marriage. Without a court order, a claim against assets, a pension or income can be made years afterwards, including against something you acquired long after the split.

The document that closes those claims is a financial order. If you agree the split between you, it takes the form of a consent order, which a court approves. That is the work worth paying for, and it is where the cost of doing it alone shows up years later.

The other trigger is children. Arrangements you agree between you need no court involvement at all. Arrangements you cannot agree go through a mediation meeting first and then, if that fails, a court application.

Which parts to do yourself

Task	Do it yourself	Use a solicitor
The divorce application	Usually fine	If service is difficult or your spouse is abroad
Agreeing the finances between you	Often fine, with advice on the outcome	Where a business, a pension or a farm is involved
Drafting the consent order	No	Yes, this is the document that binds
Disputed finances	No	Yes
Agreed child arrangements	Yes	No
Disputed child arrangements	Mediation first	Yes, after mediation

Handling the application yourself and paying for the financial order is the combination that costs least and protects most. Several firms on the city lists price that work as a fixed fee, and the family picks on this site are firms holding the Law Society’s family accreditations or Resolution membership, both of which are audited rather than self-declared.

What a financial order covers

This is the list people underestimate, and it is the argument for paying someone.

• The house. Sale and division, a transfer to one spouse, or a deferred sale until the children finish school.
• Pensions. Often the largest asset after the house, and the one most commonly ignored in a homemade agreement. A pension sharing order is the only way to split one, and it has to be made by the court.
• Savings, investments and debts. Including debts in one name that were run up for the family.
• Maintenance. For a spouse, for a fixed term or on a joint lives basis, and separately for children where the Child Maintenance Service does not have jurisdiction.
• A clean break. The clause that ends future claims. Without it, the door stays open, and it stays open after remarriage in some circumstances.

An agreement written on a kitchen table binds nobody. It becomes enforceable when a court approves it as a consent order, and the court will not approve one that is obviously unfair, which is why the drafting matters.

Mediation before a court application

For most financial and children applications there is a requirement to attend a mediation information and assessment meeting before applying to court, with exceptions including domestic abuse. Mediation is not counselling and it is not a court hearing. A mediator helps you reach an agreement, then a solicitor turns the agreement into an order.

The cost ladder, cheapest first:

Route	What it involves
Agree between you, solicitor drafts the consent order	One document, one court fee
Mediation, then a consent order	A few sessions, then the same document
Solicitor-led negotiation	Correspondence between two firms, then the order
Arbitration	A private decision, faster than court, paid for by you
Court proceedings	Several hearings across a year or more

Most cases settle before the last row, and the ones that reach it usually involve a business, a hidden asset, or someone who will not disclose.

What a solicitor costs on a divorce

There is no single figure, because the financial side is where the variation lives. What you can do is ask for the price of each piece separately: advice on the likely financial outcome, the negotiation, drafting the consent order, and the court fee to lodge it. A firm that will quote per stage lets you buy only the parts you need, which is the practical answer to whether you can afford a solicitor at all.

If money is the obstacle, check whether legal aid still covers your situation before assuming it does not, because family cases involving abuse are among the categories that remain in scope.

Divorce in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland has its own divorce law, and the no-fault reform of England and Wales did not apply there. Scottish divorce still uses grounds including one year of separation with consent and two years without, and financial provision runs under the Family Law (Scotland) Act with its own principles about matrimonial property. The simplified procedure exists for couples with no children under 16 and no financial claims.

Northern Ireland has separate legislation again, its own courts and its own fees, and the process is closer to the old English model than to the current one. A firm on the Belfast list will work to those rules, not to the ones described above.