The prospect of a divorce can be daunting for a number of reasons. Not only does it represent potential stress and worry surrounding issues like child care arrangements and dividing property and assets, but there is also the concern of how much a divorce will cost. One of the most obvious paths is to find the best divorce (see Wiselaw) lawyer who can advise on how save costs during the divorce process itself, but there are other ways you can reduce costs. Let’s take a look at six tips that will help you save cash on a divorce. 

1. Take stock of your finances

Spend some time looking through transactions on your recent bank statements and what regular payments you make. Assess whether or not you want keep paying for that gym membership or online subscription, or if you are willing to forgo these while you save for a divorce. Similarly, look at payments you can reduce or stop, for example, can you renew your car or house insurance quote or shop around for a new energy supplier? Making small adjustments overtime will give you margins to start saving, however small to begin with. 

2. Get a free consultation from a divorce lawyer 

Often, solicitors offer free legal consultations. If you are unclear as to how a divorce will affect your specific circumstances, it’s worth organising one or more of these sessions. Prepare some questions ahead so that you can get as many answered as possible in the set time you are allocated. After your meeting, you may decide that using a solicitor will be the best approach, or you may get all the answers you need to help handle your divorce on your own. 

3. Consider getting a DIY divorce 

In cases where a separation is both agreed and reasonably amicable, it’s possible to organise the divorce administration and simply pay the £593 fee yourself. If you don’t have child maintenance or custody to resolve then this can be done relatively easily. If you do have more complex matters to sort, then things can get missed and you can lose out financially. 

4. Think about attending mediation 

Although there are some costs involved with the mediation process it is a far cheaper option than going to court or using the extended services of a solicitor. The mediation process brings in a third party who acts as a facilitator in your divorce, helping your reach decisions on all matters, including financial ones. 

5. Discover if you are entitled to legal aid 

Although, the days of readily available legal aid are no more, there are some cases where it can be granted still. You can check your eligibility on the UK government website. Failing this, you should also look at whether you can get legal financial support for mediation services. 

6. Don’t get drawn into continual conflict with your ex

There are many reasons why you should not keep up disputes with your ex. Financially speaking, it doesn’t make sense either. If you are going through solicitors, and are continually responding to communication you don’t agree with from your ex, rather than making a point, or putting them in their place, you are potentially snowballing your legal fees. 

Conclusion 

Getting a cheap divorce is not a case of finding low-cost lawyers, it’s more about taking sensible and practical steps to put yourself in a position of knowledge. Look at your finances, explore those free consultations and mediation opportunities and be wise not to get involved in disputes that could end up costing you in the long-run.