The cost of Separation, Divorce, Contact, Residence and Interdict

We completely appreciate that it is very stressful and usually very difficult when a couple separates. Emotions usually run high and relationships with your former partner or spouse are strained. We will provide you with practical advice and assistance and look after your interests throughout.

Due to the nature of this type of work where much depends on what’s involved and the disposition of the “other side” in the case, we cannot provide a fixed fee option. We can and will provide you with an indication of typical fees for the different types of work we carry out in the Family Law field.

We will charge a time-based fee for this type of work. The level of fee charge will depend on who deals with this work for you. Our current rates per hour for the different categories of fee earner in our firm are as follows:

Position	Fee (exclusive of VAT)	VAT	Cost (including VAT)
Partner	£250	£50	£300
Senior Solicitor	£200	£40	£240
Solicitor	£185	£37	£222
Trainee	£150	£30	£180
Paralegal	£125	£25	£150

We will now consider typical costs for different types of cases within the Family Law sector.

Separation Agreements for matrimonial/cohabitation matters

These types of agreements tend to fall into three categories.

The first category is where the parties are agreed on the arrangements for distribution of property and division of assets as well as arrangements for residence and contact of any children and where the negotiation is minimal and any issues in dispute are limited.

In a typical case of this nature, we would expect the fee to be in the region of £1,500 (exclusive of VAT). This means the cost to you when VAT of 20% if added is £1,800 (including VAT).

The second category is where the parties have agreed some of the arrangements for the distribution of property and division of assets but there are some issues around this. There may also be issues around residence and contact of any children. There may also be additional investigation required and more extensive negotiation.

It is very difficult to assign a specific fee to a case of this nature. Sometimes these are resolved reasonably quickly whilst on other occasions, negotiations are extensive and protracted.

Accordingly, the fee range for these types of cases can be from £1,500 to £8,000 (exclusive of VAT). When VAT is included, the fees for these types of cases will cost you between £1,800 (inclusive of VAT) and £9,600 (inclusive of VAT).

The third and final category of case in this area is where, potentially, the parties don’t agree on anything. Settlement terms may finally be agreed following lengthy investigation of assets and liabilities. This type of case involves extensive and detailed negotiation and efforts to resolve complex issues, especially where the case involves particularly high value and complex matrimonial assets.

In such cases, our typical fee level starts at £6,000 (exclusive of VAT) with no upper limit. This means the cost to you when VAT is added is £7,200 (including VAT). Much will depend on the extent of the work we need to carry out to achieve settlement on your behalf.

Are there any additional costs involved?

Once your Separation Agreement has been signed by both parties, we will send it for registration to in the Books of Council and Session. Registration and provision of one extract incurs a fee of £20.00 (inclusive of VAT). Usually, two extracts are required, and the second extract also costs £20.00 (inclusive of VAT).

This cost has to be added to the cost of your fee (see above) which will be dependent on the category into which your case falls.

What’s involved in a Separation Agreement?

This fee for the preparation of a Separation Agreement includes the following work:

Taking your instructions on your situation
Advising you about your options
Contacting your spouse or partner’s solicitors
Setting out or responding to proposals
Negotiating with your spouse or partner’s solicitors
Drafting Separation Agreement
Having the Separation Agreement executed
Registering the Separation Agreement in the Books of Council and Session
Providing an Extract of your Separation Agreement to you

Does this cost include everything?

We should point out that our fixed price mentioned above does not include:

Any work involved in pension value calculations or discussions with actuaries
Extensive negotiations on residence or contact in relation to children
Extended discussions and calculations in relation to financial provision
Any sales, purchases or transfer of title and associated security work in respect of any heritable property (land and buildings)
Any litigation arising out of the separation
Any third-party investigations required into assets and liabilities
Any third-party costs or charges for valuation of assets or reports on liabilities

Our fee for your Separation Agreement only covers the services we’ve listed above. Everyone’s Separation Agreement is personal to the those involved. We are happy to carry out additional work to meet your requirements and will discuss this with you as well as the potential increased costs should such a situation arise.

Simplified Divorce/Dissolution of Civil Partnership

You can use the simplified divorce/dissolution of partnership option where there are no outstanding financial matters between you and your spouse or partner and also where there are no children involved under the age of 16 years.

In these circumstances we will prepare the application for Divorce or Civil Partnership using simplified procedure. This procedure is used, usually following a separation agreement and after the necessary length of time has passed to allow your application to be lodged with the Sheriff Court.

We provide this service on a fixed fee basis where the fee we charge for dealing with a simplified divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership is £500. This fee attracts VAT which means the cost to you is £600 (including VAT).

Are there any additional costs involved?

As the simplified divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership required a procedure in court, a fee needs to be paid to the Sheriff Court. The fee for this kind of procedure is £151.

In addition, if service of the application needs to be made by Sheriff Officer, an additional court fee of £14 will need to be paid.

In addition to that, the Sheriff Officers themselves will charge a fee and the level of that fee will be dependent on how easy or difficult it is for them to service the application on your spouse or partner.

For instance, if the application has to be served personally, the Sheriff Officers will charge a fee in the region of £103.78. This fee will attract VAT at 20% which means it will cost £124.54.

What’s involved in a Simplified divorce/dissolution of civil partnership?

This fee for this type of work includes the following:

Taking your instructions on your circumstances
Advising on whether this procedure is available to you
Advising you about the application and procedure involved
Completing the application to court and having it signed by you
Notarising the application
Lodging the application (including any supporting documents) with the Sheriff Court
Reporting to you on the outcome of your application.

Does this cost include everything?

In simplified divorce or dissolution of civil partnership, we envisage there should be no additional costs. However, if something unforeseen occurs which causes additional work to be required, we will advise you of this as soon as we discover this. Should such a situation arise, we will revert to the hourly rate basis shown above for this type of work and we will advise you of our best estimate of the likely time involvement and cost should we be able to provide an assessment of it at that time.

Defended Divorce/Dissolution of Civil Partnership

Where we are instructed to raise proceedings for divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership and it is defended, or if we are asked to defend an action of divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership, as stated at the beginning of this section, our fees are based on an hourly rate.

The actual charge will depend on the nature or complexity of the action you raise or the action we have to defend. In addition, cases such as this tend to involve more than one person in our firm to properly represent you and deal with your case. Again, the hourly rate for each fee earner in our firm are shown at the beginning of this section.

However, we can advise that there are some typical examples of costs involved in these types of cases. Again, as in all cases, the circumstances are particular to the case and the costs we now provide are to give you an indication of the possible costs and are not defined or fixed.

In a defenced divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership where there is a limited involvement in court proceedings, limited assets and minimal dispute regarding contact and residence of children matters, the fee range is between £5,000 to £6,000, exclusive of VAT. When VAT is applied, the cost of the fee is £6,000 (including VAT) to £7,200 (including VAT).

Where there are complicated and complex issues relating to assets and liabilities, uneven distribution of matrimonial assets and financial provision and/or difficult issues relating to contact and residence of children, the typical cost of a case of that nature can be between £15,000 to £20,000, exclusive of VAT in each case. That means the cost when VAT is added is between £18,000 (including VAT) and £24,000 (including VAT).

Are there any additional costs involved?

There can be many additional costs involved in a defended divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership. Once the case is enrolled in court, we then have to manage the entire process through to either an agreed settlement or a Proof, Debate or Proof before Answer. This can involve many different court processes for which there are court dues to pay and, potentially, local agents costs incurred. We will keep you advised of the costs as the case progresses through the court.

An indication of the court dues which can be incurred when you raise or defend court proceeding for divorce/dissolution of a Civil Partnership, we recommend you become familiar with the fees charged by the Sheriff Court. You can find these here and should look under the heading “Ordinary Procedure including Ordinary Divorce/Dissolution of civil partnership”.

What’s involved in a Defended Divorce/Dissolution of Civil Partnership Action?

This fee for the preparation of a Separation Agreement includes the following work:

Taking your instructions on your situation
Advising you about your options and the procedure involved
Taking statements from witnesses
Preparing your case and lodging the Initial Writ in court/entering Defences (these set out your case)
Dealing with adjustments to answer claims made by your spouse/partner
Dealing with court procedure and attending court on your behalf
Negotiations leading to settlement (if appropriate)
Citing witnesses to attend
Setting and conducting a Proof/Debate/Proof Before Answer
Confirming the outcome to you

Interdict

Interdict is where you seek to prevent someone from doing something. For instance, this might mean preventing someone from returning to the family home or removing children from a specific location or country. If you raise proceedings for an Interdict, you will be seeking to prevent your spouse or partner from doing something. If your spouse or partner should raise these types of proceedings against you, you can enter into the court process in an effort to prevent the Interdict being granted.

The costs of a case such as this will depend on whether the Interdict is being defended or not.

Undefended Interdict

The typical costs of an undefended Interdict range between £1,500 and £2,500, exclusive of VAT, depending on the complexity and difficulty. That means the cost, when VAT of 20% is added will amount to between £1,800 (including VAT) and £3,000 (including VAT).

Are there any additional costs involved?

As an Interdict requires a court procedure, a fee needs to be paid to the Sheriff Court. The fee for this kind of procedure is £159.

In addition, if service of the application needs to be made by Sheriff Officer, they will charge a fee and the level of that fee will be dependent on how easy or difficult it is for them to service the application on your spouse or partner.

For instance, if the application has to be served personally, the Sheriff Officers will charge a fee in the region of £103.78. This fee will attract VAT at 20% which means it will cost £124.54.

What’s involved in an undefended Interdict?

This fee for this type of work includes the following:

Taking your instructions on your circumstances
Advising you about the procedure involved
Taking witness statements
Obtaining relevant reports
Preparing writ and lodging with court and seeking interdict hearing
Attending hearing and presenting your case
Having interdict served on the defender
Reporting to you on the outcome of your application.

Does this cost include everything?

In an undefended Interdict, we envisage there should be no additional costs. However, if something unforeseen occurs which causes additional work to be required, we will advise you of this as soon as we discover this. Should such a situation arise, we will revert to the hourly rate basis shown above for this type of work and we will advise you of our best estimate of the likely time involvement and cost should we be able to provide an assessment of it at that time.

Defended Interdict

The typical costs of a defended Interdict range between £3,000 and £8,000, exclusive of VAT, depending on the complexity and difficulty. That means the cost, when VAT of 20% is added will amount to between £3,600 (including VAT) and £9,600 (including VAT).

Are there any additional costs involved?

As an Interdict requires a court procedure, a fee needs to be paid to the Sheriff Court. The fee for this kind of procedure is £171.

For instance, if the application has to be served personally, the Sheriff Officers will charge a fee in the region of £103.78. This fee will attract VAT at 20% which means it will cost £124.54.

Additional court fees are likely to be incurred as the case progresses through the court. It is not possible to advise you of these are the outset but we will keep you fully informed about the court dues as and when they are incurred.

What’s involved in a defended Interdict?

This fee for this type of work includes the following:

Taking your instructions on your circumstances
Advising you about the procedure involved
Taking witness statements
Obtaining relevant reports
Preparing writ and lodging with court and seeking interdict hearing or entering an appearance, lodging defences (if defending interdict proceedings)
Attending hearing and presenting your case
Adjusting pleadings as necessary
Attending all hearings
Reporting to you on the progress and outcome of your case.

Does this cost include everything?

There can be many additional costs involved in a defended interdict proceedings. Once the case is enrolled in court, we then have to manage the entire process through to either an agreed settlement or a Proof, Debate or Proof before Answer. This can involve many different court processes for which there are court dues to pay and, potentially, local agents costs incurred. We will keep you advised of the costs as the case progresses through the court.

An indication of the court dues which can be incurred when you raise or defend court proceeding for Interdict, we recommend you become familiar with the fees charged by the Sheriff Court. You can find these here and should look under the heading “Ordinary Procedure including Ordinary Divorce/Dissolution of civil partnership”.

Contact and Residence

Contact and residence actions involve children. It involved who is responsible for their care, where they reside and what rights the parents have for contact with the children. If you seek to have the children live with you but need a court order to achieve that resolution, then you would be seeking a residence order. On the other hand, if the other parent of your child or children has residence, then you might be seeking a contact order to allow you to regularly spend time with your child or children, perhaps have them stay with you over holiday periods or take them away on holiday. If arrangements cannot be made through negotiation, court proceedings will then be required to resolve the situation.

The cost of a case of this nature depends on whether it’s being defended or not.

Undefended Contract and Residence

The typical cost of an undefended contract or residence action ranges between £2,000 and £3,000, exclusive of VAT, depending on the complexity and difficulty. That means the cost, when VAT of 20% is added will amount to between £2,400 (including VAT) and £3,600 (including VAT).

Are there any additional costs involved?

When a residence or contact order is sought, this requires a court procedure, a fee needs to be paid to the Sheriff Court. The fee for this kind of procedure is £171.

For instance, if the application has to be served personally, the Sheriff Officers will charge a fee in the region of £103.78. This fee will attract VAT at 20% which means it will cost £124.54.

What’s involved in an undefended Contact or Residence action?

This fee for this type of work includes the following:

Taking your instructions on your circumstances
Advising you about the procedure involved
Taking witness statements
Obtaining relevant reports
Preparing writ and lodging with court
Serving proceedings on the defender
Enrolling for decree
Reporting to you on the outcome of your application.

Does this cost include everything?

In an undefended Contact or Residence action, we envisage there should be no additional costs. However, if something unforeseen occurs which causes additional work to be required, we will advise you of this as soon as we discover it. Should such a situation arise, we will revert to the hourly rate basis shown above for this type of work and we will advise you of our best estimate of the likely time involvement and cost should we be able to provide an assessment of it at that time.

Defended Contact or Residence

The typical costs of a defended contact or residence case range between £3,000 and £10,000, exclusive of VAT, depending on the complexity and difficulty. That means the cost, when VAT of 20% is added will amount to between £3,600 (including VAT) and £12,000 (including VAT). In some cases, the cost will exceed £10,000 (exclusive of VAT) which means a cost of £12,000 (including VAT)

Are there any additional costs involved?

Raising or defending Contact or Residence proceedings requires a court procedure. A fee needs to be paid to the Sheriff Court. The fee involved for raising or defending this kind of procedure is £171.

For instance, if the application has to be served personally, the Sheriff Officers will charge a fee in the region of £103.78. This fee will attract VAT at 20% which means it will cost £124.54.

What’s involved in a defended Contact or Residence action?

This fee for this type of work includes the following:

Taking your instructions on your circumstances
Advising you about the procedure involved
Taking witness statements
Obtaining relevant reports
Preparing writ and lodging with court or entering an appearance, lodging defences
Adjusting pleadings as necessary
Attending all hearings
Enrolling for decree (if appropriate)
Reporting to you on the progress and outcome of your case.

Does this cost include everything?

There can be many additional costs involved in defended Contact and Residence actions. Once the case is enrolled in court, we then have to manage the entire process through to either an agreed settlement or a Proof, Debate or Proof before Answer. This can involve many different court processes for which there are court dues to pay and, potentially, local agents costs incurred. We will keep you advised of the costs as the case progresses through the court.

An indication of the court dues which can be incurred when you raise or defend court proceeding for Contract or Residence, we recommend you become familiar with the fees charged by the Sheriff Court. You can find these here and should look under the heading “Ordinary Procedure including Ordinary Divorce/Dissolution of civil partnership”.