When Family Solicitors Fleece You Twice. Divorce and Financial Remedy. #lightnothate

Director Philip Kedge
Retired Police Chief Inspector
McKenzie Friend since 2012

Ancillary Relief, When Family Lawyers may fleece you twice.

Today, I am going to be explaining to you, how in financial settlements, lawyers may fleece you of thousands of pounds, twice.

This topic makes my blood boil because I get calls about it daily, where vulnerable people are in my opinion being, misled and totally ripped off.

In a recent chat with a lovely lady, she explained that she had already spent Ten Thousand Pounds on a solicitor in relation to finances after separation. It was clear that mediation was not going to work and she made the classic mistake of then contacting a family solicitor.

What that solicitor did was this, they started to manage her case, outside of any structure of mediation or a court process.

They got her to send them all the information about her assets.
They then wrote countless letters to the other side, who also had a lawyer, threatening and making demands. His lawyer did the same back, with weeks of litigation by letters and phone costing £1000’s.

The lawyers, playing their clients together, then got both parties to complete and exchange their form E’s informally, so that they can now continue the arguments, disputes and exchanges between themselves.

Think about that for a moment, £10,000 for a lawyer to operate outside of any court system, to just argue, complete forms, make endless phone calls and sending pointless correspondence, with no likelihood of resolving anything. Does that sound familiar to you?

Now, if that isn’t bad enough, this is where you get fleeced twice.

The lawyer has already taken Ten Thousand Pounds, and when they have milked you at this point for as much as they can get, they will then tell you to apply to court, and guess what, the court requires you to do all the forms and exchanges again, this time under court directions, so your solicitor repeats the work and bills you twice !!

There are two critical things to understand here.

I asked this lovely lady if there was anything that the solicitor had done or achieved that she could not have done herself with the support of a McKenzie Friend. Her answer was ‘No, I got sucked into something that I did not understand and was manipulated to hand over thousands of pounds. I could have done everything myself.’

I asked her why she contacted a solicitor and she replied ‘ I just thought you had to’.

You see, nowhere in any guidance by the Judiciary or the government, does it tell you that you need a solicitor or to go and get a solicitor.

The guidance is crystal clear: Go to a mediator who can help you and your ex-partner agree on how to split money and property without taking sides.

If mediation is not appropriate or successful you can apply to court. There are other methods of resolution to also consider such as arbitration or collaborative law, but going to a hight street solicitor to slug it out is all too often a huge and very costly mistake.

Even if you end up with a court application, court, there is still absolutely no need for a solicitor. Everything that a solicitor can do, you can do yourself, with guidance, and support of an experienced McKenzie Friend.

I broke the news to this lady on the phone, that for what had cost her 10,000 pounds, I would have easily supported her for about £400. She, has now ditched her solicitor, and I have offered her the support of a McKenzie Friend through the McKenzie Friend UK Network.

It is time that these incidious family solicitors are banned from engaging in such underhanded and exploitative practices, preying on the vulnerable, taking tens of thousands of pounds off them whilst engaging in totally unnecessary work.

[phantomwins]

What ever you saying make sense and is True, I have already spend £10000 toward child custody where my wife put false allegations against me to win by showing me as bad person but Thank God I won it now she is not sorting out finances mutually so I might deal with finances myself rather then having solicitor as I can not afford one. Refuse to do mediation, one side she says she dnt have money to pay child maintanence and other side she want finances to sort out in court where as I have offered her so many times to sort it out between us, dnt know how to handle these kind of people.

[jeff_in_a_box]

I stopped using a solicitor after form E cost me £4, 000. My wife's legal bill is currently £18, 000! We have had a "final" hearing; she had a barrister, but THEY only submitted the 560 page court bundle, 3 hours before the hearing, so it got delayed and we need to go back in 2 months; She will need that barrister again! She has been told I will be made to pay it. No one EVER suggested mediation!

[kasia]

what I can do this when my ex applied for decree and Court said yes before financial order ?