WHY USE US

Going through a divorce or relationship breakdown is never easy and people are often worried about the financial and practical implications especially where young children are involved. At Hall Ennion & Young we recognise the uncertainty and distress that people in these circumstances may be facing and tailor our approach to their needs accordingly. Here are just some of the reasons to use us:

1. FREE HALF HOUR CONSULTATION - This gives us the opportunity of taking basic information from you and providing some initial advice.

2. FIXED FEES – For a Petitioner in Divorce Proceedings we offer a fixed fee of £400.00 plus VAT. In addition you would need to allow £340.00 for the Court fee and £7.00 for an Oath fee. For a Respondent in Divorce Proceedings we would charge a fixed fee of £150.00 plus VAT. These fees cover the divorce only. Matters relating to children and finances are charged at an hourly rate which is currently between £120.00 plus VAT and £175.00 plus VAT depending on the complexity of your case. We will agree this rate with you at our initial consultation.

3. PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL SERVICE – your case would be dealt with throughout by one of our qualified solicitors. We understand that the divorce process can be very stressful and that parties need to be kept updated on the progress of their matter. If unexpected problems arise, we do our best to offer you appointments at short notice.

4. CONCILIATORY APPROACH – we believe that in the majority of cases the most effective way of trying to resolve financial matters or issues relating to the children is by agreement. In appropriate cases we encourage clients to consider mediation and we regard Court Proceedings as a last resort.

5. GENERAL – we do not do any public funding/legal aid work. Before making an appointment we would encourage all of our potential clients to visit the Legal Services Commission website at www.legalservice.gov.uk to see whether they are eligible for public funding. We have found from past experience that public funding cases are very time consuming from an administrative point of view and by not dealing with these cases we believe that it gives us more time to concentrate on helping and advising those clients who can afford to pay us privately.

A more detailed review of the services which we offer is set out below:

DIVORCE

All divorces start with a petition which is prepared by one party (known as the petitioner) and served on the other party (known as the respondent). The petitioner needs to show to a judge that the marriage has irretrievably broken down by proving one of five facts of divorce. These are adultery, unreasonable behaviour, two years’ separation with consent, desertion or five year separation. When acting for a petitioner we will advise fully on these grounds and which is the most appropriate ground to use in the particular situation. When drafting divorce petitions, we strive to minimise any upset and offence which would be caused to the respondent as we feel that this is unnecessary and can lead to hostilities which make it more difficult to resolve financial matters arising from the divorce.

Once a respondent has received the divorce petition from court they need to complete an Acknowledgement of Service which must be returned to court within 14 days. When we act on behalf of respondent clients we advise them on the contents of the Divorce Petition and the implications of completing their Acknowledgement of Service. In most cases where there has been early communication between the legal representatives of the petitioner and the respondent the Acknowledgement of Service can be completed and returned to court without difficulty.

Once the Acknowledgement of Services has been returned to court the petitioner can then apply for the first stage of divorce which is known as the Decree Nisi. This involves completing a short statement to confirm that the contents of the Divorce Petition are true. This statement has to be sworn in front of an independent solicitor. We will arrange the swearing for you. The court sets a date for the Decree Nisi hearing and it is usually unnecessary for the parties to attend.

Once the Decree Nisi has been granted the petitioner must wait six weeks and one day before being able to apply for the Decree Absolute. Once the Decree Absolute has been granted the petitioner and the respondent will be formally divorced.

FINANCIAL MATTERS ARISING FROM DIVORCES

In most divorce cases there will be property and money to deal with. This is often the most stressful part of the divorce as parties need to know to what they are entitled in order to make future plans. In the current economic climate we recognise that many of our clients have less income and the value of their properties has fallen. Therefore many clients simply cannot afford to make applications to court. We approach financial matters with the view that where possible they should be resolved by agreement between the parties.

In order to do this we ask both the petitioner and the respondent to provide full financial disclosure of their income, assets and debts. Once this information has been exchanged we look at various factors to enable us to advise on what would be a fair split in the circumstances of the particular case. A 50/50 split is usually the starting point but sometimes one party will be entitled to more than 50%. We would then negotiate with the other party putting forward offers and counter offers to try and reach a settlement. If a settlement can be reached we then record this in a document which is known as a Consent Order. The Consent Order would then go to court to be approved by a district judge. Once the Consent Order has been approved there will be a legally binding agreement between the parties. We try in all cases to achieve a clean break between the parties.

If it proves impossible to resolve financial matters by way of negotiation then in rare cases we will make application to court. Clients are fully advised on the cost and implications of going to court before any applications are made.

PRE-NUPTIAL AND POST-NUPTIAL AGREEMENTS

Pre-nuptial Agreements are made prior to a marriage taking place and Post-nuptial Agreements are made after the marriage has taken place. Both agreements seek to set out what will happen if the relationship breaks down. Pre and Post-nuptial agreements are not legally binding. However, judges seem to be taking them into account more and more when deciding how to resolve financial matters as part of a divorce. A pre or post-nuptial agreement is more likely to be taken into account and upheld if both parties received full financial disclosure at the time of making the agreement and had legal advice on that agreement. Furthermore the current circumstances of the parties will be taken into account so that if there has been a significant change in the parties circumstances since the agreement was made, such as the birth of a child or one party being made redundant then a pre or post nuptial agreement is less likely to be taken into account.

The law concerning these agreements is still quite unclear and we would fully advise a client on this before entering into the agreement.

COHABITATION AGREEMENTS AND SEPARATION

More and more couples are deciding to live together without being married and are sometimes under the misapprehension that they have the same rights as married couples. This is currently not the case although changes are slowly being made to the law. We offer cohabitees advice as to their legal position for example most cohabitees will enter into “living together agreements” to set out day to day matters such as who pays the mortgage and utilities and more important matters such as ultimately who owns what percentage of the family home. This will be important where the family home is owned only in the sole name of one of the parties. We also recommend that cohabiting couples make Wills in order to provide for their partners. Please refer to the Wills Trust and Probate sections.

We also assist cohabitees when relationships break down to resolve issues such as what will happen with the family home.

Again our approach is to resolve these matters by way of agreement in order to minimise the distress and expense for the client.

CHILDREN

We deal with all private matters (i.e. applications not involving Social Services). The breakdown of the relationship is often very distressing for the children and it is therefore our aim to resolve matters between the parents as quickly and as amicably as possible. The most common difficulties concern where a child is going to live and what contact they will have with the other parent. Other difficulties can arise where one parent wants to move out of the UK, go on long holidays outside the UK and changing a child’s surname.

Parents need to be able to communicate with each other and have a workable relationship for the benefit of their children. We therefore believe that it is far better for the parties to try and reach an agreement regarding the arrangements for the children. Unless there are concerns over the children’s safety, our initial approach is to communicate with the other side and try and agree arrangements. If this is not possible then we can make an application to court asking for an order dealing with contact, residence or other matters such as taking a child out of the jurisdiction. Again we fully advise clients of the costs and implications of going to court before any applications are made and where possible we encourage mediation for court proceedings.