divorce: diy or solicitor?

Legal separation already in place and in that case I know you can do it yourself cheaply by filing your own forms. I also know either party can ask at the divorce for the terms of the separation to be revisited and while I have no particular reason to think my ex might do so, I have this fear of him showing up on the day with his solicitor in tow and I'll be left standing there like a deer in the headlights... Anyone any advice to offer?

I was listening to a junior solicitor on George Hook's radio show last week. She mentioned that the DIY divorce companies send clients into court ill prepared and without necessary documentation. I don't know whether this might be scare mongering by the legal profession? Best of luck.

If you are confident that you meet the criteria for divorce then you can do it yourself.

The terms of the legal separation can be revisited by either party. If you are sure that nothing has changed and that proper provision has been made for any children of the marriage the it should be straightforward.

With respect to the comment above regarding the ill-prepared client, it is not always scaremongering. If there are complex pension and life assurance policies in place many of the DIY companies do not deal adequately with these issues. If there is a family company or shareholders agreement in place then it may be beneficial to get professional legal advice.

foggym - depending on circumstances it can be very straight forward to do your own divorce. I did mine a couple of years ago and have also done one for a friend last year. I also had legal separation in place. Didn't cost me a penny more than the price of posting the papers by registered post a few times - about 20 euro in all. I got templates of the necessary papers on line. Don't worry about your ex turning up without you knowing. When you serve the papers on your ex it states on the papers that the respondent has a specific time period to to you in. If not the court will accept that they are not contesting the particulars of the divorce. They cannot actually contest the divorce in itself. You must, however, be living apart for 4 of the previous 5 years. That does not mean that you have to have lived in separate homes. Myself and ex spent 2 of those 4 years under the same roof due to financial restrictions. If they make no response you can then apply to the court to set down a date for hearing. You will have a preliminary hearing where you will be asked whether it is no contest or otherwise. Also the staff in the Family Circuit Court are very helpful and will check over all your papers to make sure everything is in order before you serve them. Make an appointment to speak to someone there, it doesn't cost anything.

My ex and I DIY'ed it a few years ago, like yourself there was a legal separation in place so all of the financial matters had been sorted. Bought a book by Micheline McCormack, we followed the instructions, typed up the required documents, turned up in court on the day, and were divorced for the princely sum of €35 (including the €10 for the book!). The family law court people were very helpful, as Austik said.

Thanks for the advice. My 4 years are almost up so I'm just doing my homework to be all set when the time comes.

hi, if you have children i would get a solicitor, or at least get some legal advice from one.

Dont forget there is nothing stopping you drawing the documents up, then showing them to a solicitor, asking if he/she thinks its a fair deal.

You will of course have to pay for this bit of advice, but i think it would be worth it.

If solicitor thinks it all looks ok you could go ahead as planned.

If solicitor doesnt think its ok, there is nothing to stop you using the solicitors advice but dealing with your ex yourself.

I did this for a recent court case with my ex.......just popped into the solicitors office with all the info etc, I think he was fine about me doing the boring legwork for him!

I didnt get a large bill, and still felt I had the benefit of his advice and the likely way the court system would look at things.

If there are children and property they are complex issues, also the length of your marriage will affect things, and yours and his work, for example if he has maintained you/children etc. Have you considered all of these things?

as already said, Personally I would run it all by a solicitor.....JUST IN CASE.

Once the divorce is finalised you cant change it!

I understand from Foggym that if the respondent does not reply to the papers served on them, the court will look on it as if there is nothing going to be contested. I know from a friend of mine that they do this a number of times (probably to give the respondant plenty of time to change their minds), so if the respondant were to send in a letter to the court re. their not contesting the divorce, would it be better for them, and still not cost anything other than the stamp.