Legal Fees; Family including Care Proceedings

Our fees for family matters are typically charged on an hourly basis in line with the following hourly rates:

Our firm has been awarded a Legal Aid contract in family law and therefore you can be ensured that we provide the highest level of care and scrutiny to your case. Ms Choudhery will assess whether you are eligible to apply for assistance under the legal help or legal aid scheme. Please discuss this with her at your initial attendance. However, legal aid is often subject to means and merit. This funding is not available to everyone.

In many cases to ensure that your case is cost effective we underwork on an agreed fee basis. This means that when you instruct us, we will agree to undergo the work for a Fixed fee.

Divorce undefended £1500 plus 20 % VAT, if applicable 

These fees include:

• 5 hours attendance/preparation:

a) Consideration of the evidence.

b) Taking of your instructions.

c) Preparing the divorce petition

d) Filing the same

The fee does not include:

• HMCTS: Divorce petition fee Court and tribunal fees - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Service of the petition in person
• Any application to the court to dispense with of service. 
  Any other ancillary applications.
• Applying for marriage certificate
• Translation of marriage certificate if not in English
• Attendance at court for pronouncement of decree Nisi

The key stages of your matter are based on the presumption that you have entered a guilty plea and have a date for your hearing:

• Meet with your solicitor to provide instructions on what happened.
• We will consider instructions. Prepare petition and particulars, file the same online.
• Apply for decree Nisi
• Apply for decree absolute.
• We will conduct any further preparatory work, obtain further instructions from you if necessary and answer any follow-up queries you have.
• We confirm that the divorce proceedings normally work take between 6 and 8 months to conclude.

Application for non-molestation £1500 plus 20 % VAT, if applicable. Please be aware that in many cases, you may be legible for Legal aid. Please speak to our department to make enquiries

These fees include:

• 5 hours attendance/preparation:

a)  Consideration of the evidence.

b)  Taking of your instructions.

c)  Preparing statement and application for non -molestation 

d)  Filing the same

e)  Initial attendance at the court

The fee does not include:

• Service of the order in person
• Any application to the court to dispense with of service. 
  Any other ancillary applications.
• Barrister fees for attendance of subsequent hearings, including, fact finding hearings or return dates.
• Interpreter costs at court.
• HMCTS costs for the application

These costs can be found on Court and tribunal fees - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

The key stages of your matter are based on the presumption that you have entered a guilty plea and have a date for your hearing:

• Meet with your solicitor to provide instructions on what happened.
• We will consider instructions. Prepare witness statement, file the same at court
• Apply for non-molestation order
• Attend the first hearing before the county court
• We will conduct any further preparatory work, obtain further instructions from you if necessary and answer any follow-up queries you have.
• We confirm that an application for urgent application can be dealt within 48 hours.

Children contact matters and Prohibited Steps orders

Application for contact and prohibited steps orders are charged at £250 to £400 per hour depending on their complexity. However, on a fixed fee basis we £1500 plus 20 % VAT, if applicable. Please be aware that in many cases, you may be legible for Legal aid. Please speak to our department to make enquiries

These fees include:

• 5 hours attendance/preparation:

a) Consideration of the evidence.

b) Taking of your instructions.

c) Preparing statement and application for C100 application

d) Filing the same

e) Initial attendance at the court

The fee does not include:

• Service of the order in person
• Any application to the court to dispense with of service. 
  Any other ancillary applications.
• Barrister fees for attendance of subsequent hearings, including, fact finding hearings or return dates.
• Interpreter costs at court.
• Additional costs will be discussed and agreed prior to them being incurred.

Please note that this fee is fixed for proceedings issued within the London. If your court is listed elsewhere, we will be able to advise you of the difference in our fee.

Ancillary Relief Proceedings

Application for ancillary relief proceedings are charged at £250 to £400 per hour depending on their complexity. This will be dependent on the number of properties, the value of the assets to be divided between the parties. A simple case, for example, with a husband and wife, that agree settlement, and have one property and no pension schemes is likely to take between 10 and 15 hours. Therefore can cost between £2500 plus and £5000 plus 20 % VAT, if applicable. Please be aware that in many cases, you may be legible for Legal aid. Please speak to our department to make enquiries

These fees include:

• 10 -15 hours attendance/preparation:

a) Consideration of the evidence.

b) Taking of your instructions.

c)  Preparing statement and application for Application Form A

d)  Filing the same

e)  Preparation for Form E

f)   Updating documents and preparing bundle for court together with Preliminary documents such as case summary, chronology, schedule of assets.

The fee does not include:

• HMCTS costs of the application. Please note that the updated fee Court and tribunal fees - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Service of the application in person
• Any other ancillary applications, such as freezing orders.
• Attendance at the FDR appointment 
• Barrister fees for attendance of subsequent hearings, including, fact finding hearings or return dates.
• Interpreter costs at court.
• Additional costs will be discussed and agreed prior to them being incurred.

Please note that this fee is fixed for proceedings issued within the London. If your court is listed elsewhere, we will be able to advise you of the difference in our fee.