insideKENT Magazine Issue 52 - July 2016 | Page 157
LAW
ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
EASING
THE COST
OF
DIVORCE
Alex Davies
Divorce can be an expensive business if litigation is involved, which is why
it is so much better if couples can agree their financial settlement between
themselves. But all too often it ends in court and it is almost impossible to
predict in advance how much this will cost. Here Alex Davies, head of family
law at Cripps, explains why he is introducing a fixed fee option for this.
to plan their future if they agree the cost of each step in advance. As well
as taking away the uncertainty of the cost it also enables the relationship
with the lawyer to be more transparent as clients do not have to worry
about how fast the clock is running.
If cash flow is a problem and clients need help with legal fees until
they are able to sell assets at the end of the case, there are also a number
of specialist litigation loan providers in the market willing to offer loans that
do not require repayment until the case has been finished and the assets
divided. Sometimes they are able to take property or houses as security
and, in other cases, valuable belongings such as antiques or jewellery.
Decisions made in the course of divorce will affect both parties for the rest
of their lives, but the law often seems to be a complex set of rules and
procedures that often make the process of reaching a financial settlement
following divorce a lengthy and costly process.
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stage
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Clients tell us that this uncertainty is one of the biggest causes of
stress in the process – and this isn’t helped by the press being full of horror
horror
stories of divorcing couples who have spent huge amounts of money in
court proceedings arguing about how their assets should be divided.
Sometimes, however, a lengthy process
process is
is necessary
necessary to
to avoid
avoid an
an unfair
unfair
outcome.
In situations such as that, how can people control the cost of legal
fees and properly plan for how to afford them? In a landmark ruling recently
recently
one judge criticised the amount of legal fees a couple had incurred, saying
he thought in this day and age divorcing couples should be able to expect
their lawyers to offer a fixed fee to deal with financial court proceedings
following divorce.
In fact, fixed fees to deal with the process of ending a marriage have
been around for a while but until now lawyers have been reluctant
reluctant to
to extend
extend
fixed fee offers to court procedures which may cost tens of thousands of
pounds in complex cases. They have not wanted to share the risk that legal
fees might be higher than anticipated. But all that is now changing.
Court proceedings to decide financial agreements or disputes
concerning children are usually held in three stages and at Cripps we are
now able to offer a fixed price for each step. Not all cases will need to go
to all three steps as the matter may well be settled during the first stage,
but the benefit of the fixed fee structure is that the client is more easily able
The team of family lawyers at Cripps is committed to helping clients
to plan for the unexpected by being transparent about the cost and
affordability of divorce. For more information contact Alex Davies on
01892 506326 or [email protected]
About Cripps
www.cripps.co.uk
@crippslaw
Cripps is a key regional law firm serving
clients nationally and internationally from
offices in Kent and London. Recognised
countrywide for both its commercial
and private client work, Cripps is Legal
Team of the Year (Midsize) in the 2014/15
STEP Private Client Awards and is ranked
in the Top 25 Private Client Law Firms.
The firm focuses on wealthier families,
entrepreneurial businesses and the real
estate sector.
Find out more at cripps.co.uk
This article gives examples and is intended for general guidance only.
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