The Process

FEES

Please take time to read the previous pages carefully as it is important that you understand how the procedure works to appreciate our fee structure.

Stage 1 - Instructions to First Appointment Hearing

As explained previously, there are two options for funding Stage 1. They are as follows:

Normal Fees	£3600.00
Reduced Fees	£2500.00
VAT @ 17.5%	£437.50
Court Fee	£210.00
Total	£3147.50
Saving	£1292.50

Please bear in mind that you can take advantage of the Barclays Professional Fees credit facility if you choose to pay in advance or monthly.

Stage 2 - Conclusion of the First Appointment Hearing to the Conclusion of the Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing

If your case does not resolve at the end of the First Appointment Hearing, we offer a second fixed fee payment plan to bring your case up to the second hearing - the Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing.

This Second Stage typically requires a further 10 hours work including instructing a barrister. At our standard charge rates of £150.00 per hour, this would cost an extra £1500.00 plus Barristers fees, disbursements and VAT. However, we are also able to reduce this cost as follows:

Normal Fees	£3600.00
Reduced Fees	£2750.00
Court Fee	£210.00
VAT @ 17.5%	£481.25
Total	£3441.25
Saving	£998.75

This is payable either as a one-off payment, or as two equal instalments. In either case you can fund the payments yourself or if it is appropriate the fees can be covered by the Barclays Professional Fees Loan.

The first instalment is due once the First Appointment Hearing has ended, with the second instalment due approximately three weeks later, just before the FDR Hearing.

Our experience indicates that the vast majority of cases (about 95%) are resolved by the time the FDR Hearing has taken place, and indeed many resolve before that.

Stage 3 - Conclusion of the Financial Dispute Resolution Hearing to the Final Hearing.

If cases are not resolved at the FDR Hearing, the case moves forward to a Final Hearing. The issues to be considered at this stage may be numerous, complex, and vary considerably from case to case. Therefore, it is not possible to offer a fixed fee scheme for this stage but we will discuss funding for this once we know the likely work involved. As with the other stages it may be possible to arrange funding through Barclays Bank - see overleaf.

WHAT WORK IS COVERED?

At the outset of negotiations you should provide disclosure of your finances. Giving and receiving this disclosure goes a long way to achieving a speedy and cost effective resolution of the problem. It is therefore very important that you provide ALL the information requested. Once we have full details of both your financial circumstances and the background information we have requested we will be able to give you an indication of what we consider to be the likely outcome. If at that stage it is clear that the matter is more complex than originally anticipated and exceeds the hours quoted, we will revise our fee estimate.

Barrister's Fees

It is normal to instruct a Barrister, to represent you at the FDR and Final Hearings. The fees for those hearings are included in our Fixed Fee Payment Plan at each stage.

If we have to instruct a Barrister (also referred to as Counsel) to advise either in conference or in writing to prepare any documents, outside the scope of the Fixed Fee Payment Plan, we will obtain a quote for the fees from the Barrister's Clerk and agree this with you before proceeding further. At that stage we will ask you to pay these fees on account. Please note this will be in addition to the fixed fees.

Valuation Fees

Sometimes there is an issue as to the value of the home. If this cannot be resolved, it will be necessary to instruct a Surveyor to prepare a formal valuation of the home. These fees are not included in the Fixed Fee Payment Plan and would have to be paid separately and in addition.

Is Your Spouse Liable for Your Costs?

Where a matter is negotiated to a settlement in the form of a Consent Order, normally you each pay your own legal fees (or costs).

If the case proceeds to a Final Hearing and you are successful you may obtain an Order that your spouse should contribute to your costs. Please note, this is increasingly unusual and furthermore it is very unusual, even if an Order is made for such to cover all your legal fees.

If we have to help you enforce the order there will be additional work involved, which is not covered by this Fixed Fee Payment Plan. We will advise you about the likely fees that may be incurred at the time.

THE NEXT STEP

If you would like to proceed with us, simply contact your nearest office to set up a meeting. We will go through everything with you in detail at the first meeting so that you are comfortable with every aspect of proceedings.

The Process

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

Fees