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Our Family Law Prices & Fees
At Devonalds we aim to make our cost structure as clear as possible and to provide a service or product to suit all requirements and budgets. Below is a breakdown of our current fees, though do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further explanation of your options.
| Lawyer Assisted Self Managed Services | Price |
|---|---|
We can offer up to 1 hour advice appointment allowing us to advise you in relation to the area of law you are concerned about as well as to allow us to advise you of the likely merits of your case and the options available to progress the case. | £150.00 Plus VAT |
Full Representation
We appreciate that for many, the prospect of managing a case yourself may be undesirable.
Should you wish for your case to be fully handled by one of our expert lawyers then we offer two options in each area. We are either able to provide a service based on fixed fees, or for more complicated matters, or on your personal preference, we are able to offer our traditional hourly rates based services. The options are outlined below:
1. Hourly Rates Based Fees
Our services are always available to our clients on a traditional hourly rate charging basis. The rates charged by the lawyer representing you will depend upon that lawyers’ level of experience.
All hourly rates are broken down into 6 minute units when time costing, and rounded up to the nearest unit. Any travel and waiting times, such as at Court, are charged at half the lawyer’s normal hourly rate. Please note fees will include additional mileage charges and disbursements as required.
We will ensure that an estimate of our fees is provided to you in clear terms at the earliest possible occasion.
Our hourly rates are as follows:
- Solicitors and Legal Executives with over 8 years’ experience - £272.00 per hour
- Solicitors and Legal Executives with over 4 years’ experience - £233.00 per hour
- Other Solicitors or Legal Executives or Fee Earners with equivalent experience - £189.00 per hour
- Trainee Solicitors, Paralegals, and other Fee Earners - £134.00 per hour
We will normally ask for at least £500.00 on account of costs at the beginning of any hourly rate funded case as well as the arrangement of a standing order for £160 plus VAT monthly. You will then be billed on a regular basis of no more than every 3 months. Any amount overpaid by you will be repaid at the end of your case and you will be expected to pay any additional sum owing within 28 days of receipt of your bill.
All balances owing must be cleared in advance of your attendance at any Court hearing. We will also need to have sufficient funds on account in advance of any Court hearing to meet our costs in representing you.
Do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
Note: In many cases you will have the option to choose between hourly rates or our below fixed fee structure, however we retain the right to refuse to accept your case on fixed fees for more complicated cases, or where we believe the amount of work requested has become unreasonable under the fixed fee arrangement. No decision to change your billing plan will be made without discussion with you beforehand.
2. Fixed Fee Services
Below follows a breakdown of our fixed fee services for all family cases.
| Divorce | Price |
|---|---|
Fixed Fee services are always available in respect of an undefended Divorce, whether as Petitioner or Respondent. This service includes meeting and advising you on the procedure for Divorce, the preparation and handling of all documentation and corresponding with the other party and the Court. Disbursements for Petitioner’s are typically £593.00 for the Court Issue and Decree Absolute fees. Should the other party not appropriately respond to the divorce application there will be further fees for alternative service. Respondents must be aware they could face a claim for costs by the other party, which is not covered within these fees. Note: This level covers Divorce only and any advice on children’s or financial matters will need to be managed under an alternative service. Should a Divorce become defended then fees will automatically revert to our hourly charging rates. | For Petitioner £490 plus VAT + Disbursements |
For Respondent £400 plus VAT + Disbursements |
Contested Proceedings
For Matrimonial Finances and Children’s cases we have broken down our fixed fees into clear sections. This should allow you to decide which level of service you require and ensure you are aware of the costs before you agree our to us completing the work on your behalf, as well as how much work is being undertaken for the price paid.
See the tables below outlining our fixed fees in each area, usually each stage is designed to follow the stage before but there can be occasions when a particular stage will need to be repeated. For each repeated stage there will be another fixed fee. Your total costs will be all the required stages combined:
Note 1: There maybe additional costs required, such as reports Ordered by the Court. The cost for any such disbursements are not covered in our fixed fees. Mileage charges for attendance at Court/Conference are 45 pence per mile. In addition any parking charges will be payable.
Note 2: Our fees are based upon representation at Court within 10 miles of the office at which your file is held.
| Matrimonial Financial Matters | Prices |
|---|---|
Our costs for meeting and advising you on financial matters, reasonable correspondence with the other side in trying to negotiate a settlement, up to, but not including the preparation and issue of any Court Application or final consent order. | |
Cases where total capital assets including pensions and any other Policies total under £50,000.00 Note: £300.00 plus VAT additional fee payable for every £200,000.00 in total disputed assets or part thereof value over £200,000.00 including pension assets. | £500 plus VAT |
For cases of total assets over £50,000 | £650.00 plus VAT |
Preparation of Consent Order/Financial Statement | £500 plus VAT |
Our costs for the preparation of a financial remedy application. | £150 plus VAT |
Our costs for the completion of the financial statement. This fee is dependent upon the volume of disclosure and open to further consideration. Any change in fee would be notified before any work is undertaken. Note: £300.00 plus VAT additional fee payable for every £250,000.00 in total disputed assets or part thereof value over £250,000.00 including pension assets. | £600 plus VAT |
Our costs for the preparation of perusing the other parties financial statement and disclosure documents and the preparation. This fee is dependent upon the volume of disclosure and open to further consideration. Any change in fee would be notified before any work is undertaken. Note: £300.00 plus VAT additional fee payable for every £250,000.00 in total disputed assets or part thereof value over £250,000.00 including pension assets. | £500 plus VAT |
Our costs for instructing or approving an estate agent and financial advisor for the purpose of a mortgage borrowing capacity report. This fee may vary if there are multiple properties in dispute. | £250 plus VAT |
Preparation of the preliminary documents including statement of issues, chronology, questionnaire and ES1 and ES2 forms. | £500 plus VAT |
Representation at the First Appointment hearing (provided they are not contested) within 10 miles. These fees are on the basis that the hearing is used as a First Appointment and not an FDR. | £400.00 plus VAT |
Representation at the First Appointment hearing (provided they are not contested) over 10 miles. These fees are on the basis that the hearing is used as a First Appointment and not an FDR. | £450.00 plus VAT |
Representation between First Appointment and Financial Dispute Resolution hearing Note: £100.00 plus VAT additional fee payable for every £250,000.00 in total disputed assets value over £250,000.00 including pension assets. | £650.00 plus VAT |
Representation at the Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing (You may prefer to instruct a barrister, and this may be discussed at the time) Note: £250.00 plus VAT additional fee payable for every £250,000.00 in total disputed assets value over £250,000.00 including pension assets. | £800 plus VAT |
Representation between Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing up to but not including Final Hearing (save where further statements are required to be prepared whereby additional fees will apply) Note: £200.00 plus VAT additional fee payable for every £250,000.00 in total disputed assets value over £300,000.00 including pension assets. | £300.00 plus VAT |
Representation at any contested Final Hearing (You may prefer to instruct a barrister, and this may be discussed at the time) | £800 plus VAT per half day hearing |
Implementation fee for Court Orders | £300.00 plus VAT |
Additional Costs | |
Instructing an Expert Preparing a brief to a Barrister | £200.00 plus VAT per required service |
Preparing Trial Bundles (up to 350 pages) | £200.00 plus VAT |
Preparing Trial Bundles (more than 350 pages) | £250.00 plus VAT per additional bundle |
Attending a Conference with a Barrister under 1.5 hours | £200.00 plus VAT |
Attending a conference with a Barrister 1.5 hours or over | £250.00 plus VAT |
Attending at Court to assist your Barrister for up to 1 day | £500.00 plus vat |
Photocopying charges not included in preparing trial bundles | 5p per sheet |
| Children’s Matters | Prices |
|---|---|
Our costs for meeting and advising you on Children’s matters, reasonable correspondence with the other side in trying to negotiate an agreement, up to, but not including the preparation and issue of any Court Application | £300.00 plus VAT |
Where you have received a Court application our costs for meeting and advising you and any correspondence with the Court or the other party. | £300.00 plus VAT |
Our costs for the preparation of a C100 application. This will cover advice and preparation of the document. (There shall be additional costs if further documentation is required to be filed at the court) | £250.00 plus VAT plus court issue fee of £232.00 |
Our costs for the preparation of a C1A document and acknowledgement form. | £250 plus VAT |
Our costs for considering and advising in respect of the Child Impact Report. | £150 plus VAT |
| Representation at Hearings | |
Option A – Representation at the First Hearing to include preparation of the trial bundle and case summary. This fixed fee is where there are no allegations of domestic abuse. | £500.00 plus VAT |
Option B – Where there are cases with allegations of domestic abuse which would warrant a fact-finding hearing – Charges will be determined on an hourly rate basis subject to fee earners discretion. | Hourly Rates |
Dispute Resolution Appointment | £500 plus VAT |
On-going representation between any non-contested hearing and any subsequent directions hearings (save where statements are directed to be filed with the court further charges will apply) | £300.00 plus VAT plus disbursements |
Representation between directions hearing and leading up to any contested hearing (save in relation to a fact-finding hearing whereby the case will move to hourly rates) | £450.00 plus VAT |
Preparation of witness statement (There will be a fee for any additional witness statements at the fee earners discretion) | £300.00 plus VAT |
Representation at any Contested Hearing before District Judge or Magistrates (You may prefer to instruct a barrister and this may be discussed at the time) | £750.00 plus VAT per half day hearing £1000.00 plus VAT per day plus travelling charges |
| Additional Costs | |
Preparing Trial Bundles (up to 350 pages) | £200.00 plus VAT |
Preparing Trial Bundles (more than 350 pages) | £250.00 plus VAT per additional bundle |
Attending a Conference with a Barrister under 1.5 hours | £200.00 plus VAT |
Attending a conference with a Barrister 1.5 hours or over | £250.00 plus VAT |
Attending at Court to assist your Barrister for up to 1 day | £500.00 plus vat |
Photocopying charges not included in preparing trial bundles | 5p per sheet |
Drafting Contact Agreement | £350.00 plus VAT |
NOTE – Most cases are conducted in the County Court or Family Proceedings Court before a District Judge or Magistrates. If at any stage within the proceedings your case is transferred to the Circuit Judge or the High Court we would no longer be able to offer a fixed fee service and your case would revert to hourly rates if you wish to continue to instruct us.
We offer some additional services in our family department and our fixed fees for the same are outlined below:
| Additional Family Services | Price |
|---|---|
Parental Responsibility/Step Parental Responsibility Agreement | £200.00 plus VAT |
Change of name deed | £125.00 plus VAT |
Statutory Declaration | £70.00 plus VAT |
Separation Agreement (not including negotiation) | £550.00 plus VAT |
Severance of Joint Tenancy | £150 plus VAT |
Please note: Our fees are subject to review. Please ensure you confirm the fee for any service with our staff before agreeing any work to be undertaken. However we will keep you informed of any proposed fee changes throughout your case.
For any assistance in relation to these fee structures, please do not hesitate to contact our staff who will be happy to assist.