Help Guide 6
Where to Save Money During Divorce Proceedings
Tips to save money during divorce, child arrangement and financial settlement proceedings.
Divorcing can be a very expensive process if you and your ex-partner are not careful. No matter how much you are financially worth, nobody wants to run up huge legal fees and court costs whilst suffering the stress and trauma that comes along with it.
Today in 2021, with the many options and resources available to divorcing partners, it is very easy to save money and achieve the same goal.
After speaking to many people who have been through divorce, let us emphasise one very important fact before you read all the money saving tips below. That is, if you want to save money during your divorce –
KEEP CALM AND KEEP A LEVEL HEAD.
DON’T REACT. TRY AND BRING YOUR EX-PARTNER AROUND WHEN THEY DO.
STEER YOUR DIVORCE SHIP AWAY FROM ROUGH EXPENSIVE WATERS.
DO NOT TAKE ACTION WHEN YOU OR YOUR EX-PARTNER ARE ANGRY OR AFTER HEATED WORDS.
(Solicitors and barristers will always take advantage of the above)
MONEY SAVING TIP 1 – USE OUR WEBSITE
Read our I AM L.I.P (divorce) website inside out. This website has detailed procedural guidance and explanations on the whole divorce process, child arrangements process and division of your marital assets process. There are detailed write ups on the forms you will need, links where to find them and other write ups on virtually every thing you could come across during your divorce. By doing it yourself you can save a lot of money.
MONEY SAVING TIP 2 – TRY DIY DIVORCE
If there is no dispute in dividing marital assets or child arrangements, then try a DIY Divorce – read this website, complete the whole process between yourselves, and fill in forms using online government guidance notes and our Help Guides.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO DIY DIVORCE
MONEY SAVING TIP 3 – TRY MEDIATION
If you are finding the process of dividing marital assets, finances and pensions and sorting out child arrangements difficult and not straightforward, please try mediation. Talking to your partner with an experienced mediator present will be cheaper than talking through solicitor’s letters, going to court, and paying for barristers.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘MEDIATION’
MONEY SAVING TIP 4 – BE AWARE OF FRIENDLY ADVICE
The first thing most people are told when they reveal that they are divorcing is that ‘you need a good solicitor’. They take this advice and before you know it, legal fees start to mount up. Please do not automatically think you need a solicitor and this is the only way forward. It is not. Today there are many options. Please click on the link below.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR DIRECT YOUR DIVORCE
MONEY SAVING TIP 5 – KNOW YOUR FINANCIAL WORTH
Please read point 4 of Help Guide 1 where we encourage you to gather knowledge, evidence and paperwork of your financial worth well before you submit an application to the court for divorce. This is so that your ex-partner cannot hide assets and cheat you out of what is rightfully yours.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR ‘PRE-DIVORCE – point 4’
MONEY SAVING TIP 6 – READ OUR HELP GUIDE TO SOLICITORS BEFORE YOU TALK TO ONE
If you are going to hire a legal team/solicitor, shop around and ask upfront about fees, total costs, and when will you be billed. Ask the legal firm if they can use a paralegal or assistant to do some of the work to save costs. Ask if you can review your legal costs regularly.
Once you have instructed your solicitor do not forget to always ask them the cost beforehand of every piece of work they do for you. If you can do some of it yourself, tell them and discuss it. Always rationalise whether or not you need to use a solicitor at each stage of the divorce. Most times, you can fill in the form yourself using online guidance notes. You can also use other cheaper methods to gain the same advice you would receive from a solicitor, such as from the citizens advice bureau, the internet, and government bodies. I always feel it is best to use the combination method if you cannot conduct the whole divorce yourself – the easier things you can do yourself for free and pay solicitors for the harder things that you cannot do. Please read our guide to solicitors.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘SOLICITORS’
MONEY SAVING TIP 7 – PRACTICE THE 48 HOUR COOLING PERIOD TECHNIQUE
During your divorce you may get angry, irritated, impatience and upset with your ex-partner and the whole divorce process. At this time it is very easy to make decisions that can cost you financially and you may regret later.
When you are angry with your ex-partner or feeling revengeful towards them, please remember never to call anyone including your ex-partner, talk to anyone concerning your divorce, instruct a solicitor, or make a decision. You must leave it for 48 hours then contact act if you need to. Give yourself a chance to cool down.
Please remember the golden rule – do not instruct a solicitor or do anything else in the heat of the moment that you will regret later.
MONEY SAVING TIP 8 – USE WHATSAPP AS YOUR PERSONAL ASSISTANT
If you have a solicitor dealing with your divorce case, please do not use them as a personal assistant to write to your ex-partner about every little silly thing. That’s what WhatsApp is for. Please remember WhatsApp is free.
MONEY SAVING TIP 9 – BE ORGANISED AND STAY ON TOP OF YOUR DIVORCE
Be organised and stay on top of your divorce. Know dates, timescales, and what is required at what time, so you do not incur fines or are in contempt of court or waste money on appointments you forgot to attend. Please read our Help Guide 1 point 17 for more information.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR PRE-DIVORCE – point 17
MONEY SAVING TIP 10 – 1 HOUR FREE CONSULTATION
Many solicitors offer 1 hour free consultation to new clients. Please use this offer. Go in with a list of questions you need answering and write notes as the solicitor speaks. These sessions may be advertised in your local newspaper.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘SOLICITORS’
MONEY SAVING TIP 11 – SHARE THE COSTS OF VALUATIONS AND TRY AND GET THEM DONE FOR FREE
When it comes to valuations of marital assets and getting expert evidence, try to share the costs and instruct joint valuations and reports. Use a local estate agent or an online estate agent to value your marital home. It can either be done free – especially if you tell them that you want to put the house on the market for sale – or at a minimal cost. Try to avoid getting a chartered surveyor to value your home. You are looking at huge fees. Do these valuations, get expert reports, and capital gains tax figures yourself, if you can, without involving solicitors and the courts.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘VALUATIONS, EXPERT EVIDENCE, CGT & PRR’
MONEY SAVING TIP 12 – DIRECT YOUR DIVORCE TO TRY AND AVOID TAX
Educate yourself about the latest legislation regarding capital gains tax and private residence relief to see how you can save on paying tax. This is where open communication with your ex-partner will help. You will both be able to negotiate your circumstances, perhaps change them temporarily, to pay less tax on marital assets that are sold or transferred as a result of the divorce. You can call a government department and ask them to explain certain things to you or visit your local citizens advice bureau and get information.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘CAPITAL GAINS TAX AND PRIVATE RESIDENCE RELIEF’
MONEY SAVING TIP 13 – WRITE YOUR OWN USING OUR TEMPLATES
Please read our L.I.P Help Guides and learn how to prepare a witness statement, position statement, draft consent agreement, and a bundle yourself. We have provided sample templates for you to download and use. This will save you a lot of money instead of getting a solicitor to do it.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE FOR ‘YOUR WITNESS STATEMENT EXPLAINED’
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘YOUR POSITION STATEMENT EXPLAINED’
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘HOW TO PREPARE A BUNDLE FOR COURT’
MONEY SAVING TIP 14 – THINK ABOUT YOUR PENSION NOW NOT LATER
Please read our L.I.P Help Guide about dividing pensions. Do not ignore this because you think your pension is not a priority at this moment. The pension rights you secure now during your divorce will serve you well in the future.
LINK TO OUR L.I.P HELP GUIDE TO ‘DIVIDING PENSIONS AND PENSION SHARING ORDERS’
MONEY SAVING TIP 15 – MAKE DECISIONS WITH THE FUTURE IN MIND
One of the most important things that you must have at the forefront of your divorce is the long term financial impact of your decisions. You and your ex-partner are making decisions right now regarding the children, your assets, and finances, and most of these decisions will be impacted by your situation, lifestyle, thoughts, state of health, your age, and your mindset now. As stated above in money saving tip 14, you may not think that securing a pension right now is important because you do not need one, but in 20 – 30 years time you may do. Your situation, health, and environment can change in a second. Therefore, you must think of all eventualities that could happen to you in your future and then make the decisions required in your divorce to mitigate this. We cannot emphasise this point enough.
MONEY SAVING TIP 16 – VISIT THE SUPPORT THROUGH COURT UNIT
You should go and speak to the ‘support through court’ unit. Support through court is a free charity based organisation usually located in the family court where child arrangements are heard. It was originally known as the PSU – the personal support unit. Support through court is there to help any person who is NOT legally represented in court. They can guide you, give practical and emotional support, and help you solve issues. They can also attend court with you. However, they cannot give you legal advice.
LINK TO THE ‘SUPPORT THROUGH COURT’ WEBSITE
MONEY SAVING TIP 17 – IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND YOU CAN STOP OR PAUSE COURT PROCEEDINGS
Many people think that once a divorce, and financial and child arrangement proceedings have started or are a certain way along they cannot be stopped or halted. People are often told this by solicitors and barristers who want the proceedings to continue because it benefits them financially or are persuaded not to stop as they may have the upper hand or are reminded by others why the divorce started in the first place.
We at I AM L.I.P think differently. We have written a Help Guide explaining how exactly you can stop or halt divorce, financial and child arrangement proceedings. Promise yourself that if things start to mend and get better between yourself and your partner then you will reconsider putting your family back together and our Help Guide 14 will help you do just that.
MONEY SAVING TIP 18 – USE OUR FORUM
If there are any questions you have, advice you need, or you want to tap into someone else’s experience go to our I AM L.I.P forum and talk to other people. It’s free and you will be exposed to a wealth of knowledge, experience and guidance.