In this day and age of the internet and technology we frequently see these offers online suggesting that they can do your divorce all for £49? As a family lawyer, the expression “beware Greek gods bearing gifts comes to mind”.
Don’t be me wrong people often can and do prepare and deal with there divorce themselves, they can get forms from the court and with help prepare them and take the process through to Decree Absolute.
The difficulties however are that often people believe they are getting something else. For example some of these online divorces suggest you can have a clean break Consent Order (something that finalises the finances on divorce so that you can move on with your life without fear of further claims on your assets). The difficulty is that they rely on you, the layperson, to have reached an agreement, and provide no or limited advice on what is a reasonable settlement.
Often people don’t even realise that they need to get an Order resolving the finances of the marriage, believing that their agreement is sufficient. Sadly this isn’t true and as shown in the case of Vince v Wyatt [2013] EWCA Civ 495 where the wife after a divorce nearly 20 years previous sought a financial settlement through the Court and indeed was successful in that claim as there had been no financial settlement order made at the time of divorce (Direct link to the story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire- 36499818).
If you are separating and contemplating divorce then it is important to you both to get proper advice and that can only come from a meeting with a family lawyer or help through family mediation.
If you are affected by any of the above and want advice we offer an initial free meeting and contact the family team on 01202 877400.
