The cost of the divorce falls into two parts:
- the court fees (an initial petition fee of £300 plus a document swearing fee of £7 and the £40 fee for the decree absolute); and
- the solicitors’ fees for preparing the court documents.
Although the court fees are set (and do not include VAT), the solicitors’ fees will depend on the amount of time they have spent. If the case is undefended, these will usually be between £700 and £1,000, plus VAT, excluding the court fees This does not include the time spent in dealing with the finances or with children’s problems.
The biggest fees in any case are those to do with sorting out the financial issues.