Fixed-Fee Divorces

Providing you with certainty at an uncertain time

Emma wants a divorce. She's distraught after finding out that Mark's been playing away. Mark wants a divorce. He was so unhappy in his marriage that he found comfort with someone else. The breakdown of a relationship can be one of the most traumatic periods of anyone's life. We at McKinnells recognise that at a time of stress and uncertainty the two things you need to be sure of is that your separation will be handled with respect and that your legal fees are not going to spiral out of control.

Government cut-backs to Legal Aid are going to limit the scope of work that is covered. In a nutshell, what this means is that many people who are going through a legal divorce process will no longer qualify for state aid and will instead have to pay privately to get the legal help and advice that they badly need.

With solicitors in our region charging up to £250 per hour this is going to be quite a daunting prospect for a great many people. However, the axe had been hovering over Legal Aid for some time and the announcements came as no real surprise and McKinnells had already put plans in place to make it easier for people to access a solicitor without running up those huge legal bills.

The way forward is to offer fixed-fees, rather than hourly rates, for family clients. We are proud to be the first local firm to offer fixed-fee divorces starting from just £399 + VAT. We understood from a very early stage that any proposed cuts to Legal Aid were going to have a massive impact on family matters and we wanted to do something that would help our clients to deal with it.

People who would have previously been eligible for state support during their divorce proceedings are going to find it hard to accept paying up to £1000 or more under the new rules. It is simply not realistic to demand high fees from those on the lowest incomes. Under the fixed-fee scheme, our clients will know exactly how much a legal service will cost them and removes the horror of enormous hourly rates.

You know where they stand under our fee structure so it's easier to budget accordingly. Depending on circumstances, we may also be able to offer a staged payment plan to avoid having to pay legal costs all in one go. It's all part of our commitment to providing good legal help at a reasonable price.

Meet the Family Law team...