Designed to offer a cooperative, dignified, and cost-effective way for couples to navigate the complexities of separation by working with one lawyer together.
Together you will work with the same lawyer who provides joint legal advice to both of you at the same time. The lawyer you work with will not take sides. Instead, they will give you an unbiased, neutral and professional assessment of the likely outcome that the court would consider fair. They are there to help you negotiate constructively and reach a solution that works for your situation.
Here at Mills & Reeve, we call this Separate well with one lawyer. You may also hear people talk about this as a “one couple, one lawyer” approach.
At the outset, your lawyer will discuss the process carefully with each of you individually. This helps to identify key issues and determine if this approach is right choice for you. Your lawyer will also explore the alternative options available to you (such as mediation or arbitration) so you can make an informed decision. Assuming that separate well with one lawyer is the right approach, you will then move on to a series of joint meetings with the aim of reaching a binding agreement.
This guide shows you what the process looks like for many of our clients:
For each couple, we will agree a case plan following the initial consultation. This will depend on the circumstances of the case and the assets. We have provided some illustrative examples below (the cost of which is in addition to the cost of the initial individual meetings with each of you before the process is started):
- You and your ex-partner have reached a complete agreement and have discussed all of the details. You simply need help to implement the agreement and draft the necessary court documents. The cost for this is £3,500 plus VAT and court fees. This doesn't include any pension expert advice and assumes that no joint meetings will be required.
- You and your ex-partner have agreed some principles for your settlement but you need advice on how to refine the agreement and/or to understand your assets e.g. you have agreed in principle to a percentage split but you have not yet agreed what should happen to a specific asset or how a pension share should be calculated. We can help you consider your options and implement the agreement. In this scenario, the cost would range between £6,000 and £12,000 plus VAT, court fees and experts' fees. This assumes that between 2 and 3 joint meetings will be required.
- You and your ex-partner have agreed that you would like to work together with one lawyer but have not yet agreed any principles. You don't know or have limited knowledge about the financial assets of the other person. This process would require us to take you through all the steps in the diagram above. The cost for most cases varies between £10,000 and £25,000 plus VAT, court fees and experts' fees, depending on the complexity of the case. This assumes that you will need between 3 and 5 joint meetings.
- You and your ex-partner’s case is particularly complicated or your assets are of particularly high value. In this instance we will discuss your costs with you and may offer you a bespoke fixed fee, staged fixed fees or to carry out the work on an hourly rate basis.
Please note, these cost estimates are all the total cost for working with both of you and not per person.
