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How much do divorce financial settlements cost and how do they work?

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In purely monetary terms, a divorce will cost you £612 in court filing fees. And that’s it.

Divorce is one of if not the most stressful life event a person can experience and our team understands that. We’ve put this guide together to help you make the right decision for your family, yourself and your finances.

In case it’s needed, the first point to clarify is that getting divorced does not separate your finances from spouse. This is a common misconception that we explore with this guide, along with a few other myths and misunderstandings.

If you’d like to know more, check out the rest of this page to learn how divorce works, the best ways to reach a binding financial separation from your partner and plenty of other useful information.

Contents & About the Author

Contents of this guide:

Honest insight on how divorce works and what it costs
After divorce, here’s how to legally separate your finances
Pensions: If either of you has a Defined Benefit Pension, read this extra carefully
How much does financial separation cost and how do you control solicitor fees?
Speaking to a solicitor is free, totally confidential and commits you to nothing

About the Author:

This guide has been produced by Clare Pinnington, Head of Family Law at Pinnington Law, part of the Farnworth Rose Solicitors group, in conjunction with commentary and input from her team.

If you’d like a confidential chat with a Family Law expert, you can leave me a message to call you back at a time that suits you.

Request a private chat here

Section 1: Honest insight on how divorce works and what it costs

If you’re reading this, you’re likely still at the start of your divorce journey. You might not have even told anybody else about what you’re planning.

But, don’t panic. You’re not alone. And you’re not the first person to do what you’re doing.

Granted, that most likely doesn’t make how you’re feeling right now any easier – but it does mean that there are experienced professionals available to advise the best possible route to a secure, stable future for you after your marriage has ended.

A lot of misconceptions and urban myths exist around divorce. So, it’s worth covering the basics just so you can be certain you’re getting legitimate advice.

I’d hate for you to be under any further stress or anxiety because of words from somebody who got divorced years ago (the law changed in 2022) or an urban myth that isn’t even true (such as advice like ‘Don’t move out, you’ll be admitting fault and get nothing!’ or the myth of ‘Common Law Husband and Wife’ having the same rights as married couples – both of these things are not true).

Here’s a fact: The legal process for divorce is super straightforward and you don’t technically need a solicitor.

With the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020, a ‘no fault divorce’ came into law in 2022. This means that a marriage can be dissolved based on a statement alone and (ex)couples can apply for a divorce together.

In fact, I quite often end up advising clients to complete the divorce themselves.

This might be because they have the time and energy for a ‘DIY divorce’ and just simply needed reassuring that, yes, it really is that simple.

Alternatively, I sometimes advise it because they’re better off putting the £540 fixed fee divorce service towards other steps in the separation process. These most usually relate to family court costs when things are less amicable or for helping untangle the matrimonial pot in the fairest, legally binding way and completing a legal Financial Consent Order.

Remember, the legal process for divorce does not resolve the finances.

Pensions of both parties, any business assets, the family home, proven contributions to the marriage, ongoing needs for dependents and much more will all impact how finances should be settled after your divorce.

The next section will explore four resolution paths for couples who get divorced and legally separate.

Over the years, we’ve seen it all before.

Over the years, we’ve seen it all before. ‘We’re getting divorced but we don’t want to hurt each other – it’s only fair they get X’ or ‘I’m done and just want out now – I’m not bothered for X, Y, Z.’

“But nobody has a crystal ball. New partners, second families, new life goals, career switches… What ‘feels fair’ today likely won’t feel it 5, 10 or 20 years down the road.

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Section 2: After divorce, here’s how to legally separate your finances

At this point, it’s worth outlining a fundamental premise of financial separation. The default starting position is a 50:50 split of the matrimonial pot and then it’s about assessing if one party requires more or less than half, based on the respective needs and circumstances of each party. All whilst putting the wellbeing of any affected children first.

There are four possible routes to legally separating the family finances after divorce. But each one is more emotionally and financially taxing then the last. They are,

Financial Settlement by Agreement
Family Law Mediation
Solicitor-Led Negotiations
Court Proceedings

Let’s work through them from most simple to most complex.

Route 1: Financial Settlement by Agreement… You’ve already agreed on how to separate, you use a solicitor to make it legally binding

The scenario & what happens: A couple agrees to divorce amicably and have agreed who’s getting what and living where. Financial and legal advice is often used to make sure everyone is covered fairly and the agreement is turned into a Consent Order by a solicitor.

Remember: The legal process for divorce does not resolve your finances.

Even the most civil and amicable divorces and separations can benefit from a small amount of legal advice. Things might be amicable now and you think everything is being split ‘fairly’, but life moves fast.

I asked my team about this. Here’s what Stephen Pinnington, one of Manchester’s most well-known and respected family lawyers said,

“Over the years, we’ve seen it all before. ‘We’re getting divorced but we don’t want to hurt each other – it’s only fair they get X’ or ‘I’m done and just want out now – I’m not bothered for X, Y, Z.’

“But nobody has a crystal ball. New partners, second families, new life goals, career switches… What ‘feels fair’ today likely won’t feel it 5, 10 or 20 years down the road.”

Likewise, the law changes and advice received from friends and family based on ‘when they did it’ might not be true. For example, did you know that your pension might actually be worth more than your house and worth ‘fighting’ for more than a family home with tarnished memories?

We will dive into pensions in more detail later, but this is the most often overlooked and undervalued area when couples separate.

All that said, even the most amicable of divorcing couples would benefit from each seeking legal advice to k their future interests are fully protected.

Route 2: Family Law Mediation… An expert helps you both reach the right compromise smoothly

The scenario & what happens: A couple agrees to divorce in principal but can’t agree when it comes to things around the separation, property and finances and child . Your solicitor will refer you to an experienced mediator to help you reach an agreement based on their neutral, experienced advice.

The process of family law mediation is about helping both parties reach the fair, correct outcome as smoothly (read ‘as quickly and cost effectively’) as possible.

When you and your spouse simply cannot agree, this keeps down costs and facilitates better communication compared to ending up following court proceedings.

As mentioned earlier, an experienced family lawyer and their network of expert mediators have seen it all before. As painful as communicating with your ex-partner might feel right now, reaching the best conclusion for you and your family is the aim of the game. Especially when emotions are running high.

Here’s Curtis Booth, one of our Family Lawyers who routinely deals with complex and emotionally demanding cases,

“Getting divorced is as stressful as life can ever be – there’s no denying it. Staying rational sometimes feels impossible for even the most logical person. That’s why people get tied up in ‘what’s mine’ and not ‘what’s right’ but the most important thing in the long run is the security and wellbeing of everybody involved, especially children. They come first in the eyes of the law for a reason.”

Mediation is ideal for those scenarios where desire to separate is high, but communication and cooperation are low. But, when mediation isn’t the right option, solicitor-led negotiations are the next step.

Route 3: Solicitor-Led Negotiations – it’s a bigger investment, but sometimes it’s for the best

The scenario & what happens: Differences are too great to be resolved with the help of a specialist mediator. Instead, each party’s solicitor (under instruction) negotiates until they can reach a legally binding agreement.

When Family Mediation isn’t an option, or has broken down, that’s when the lawyers become more heavily involved. Essentially, it’s the same process as above but your negotiations are by solicitors instead of yourselves. This could be done via:

Solicitor-Led Negotiation (Without a Mediator): Available as an option if both sides agree and are willing to follow this process.
Solicitor-Led Mediation: The process benefits from having a specialist mediator facilitate the proceedings between both solicitors.

Eventually, if an agreement is reached it can be drawn up into a Financial Consent.

Route 4: Court Proceedings – The last resort for good reason

The scenario & what happens: All other routes to agreement are either exhausted or were never a feasible option to begin with. One party can apply for a Financial and then a judge will make the final decision.

When a marriage or relationship breakdown reaches the point of needing to go to court, there’s simply no denying it can be the most stressful, combative and expensive way to reach a .

I feel it’s only right to point that out now whilst you’re still researching.

There are some scenarios where Court Proceedings are the right way to go – situations involving abuse or child protection, for example – but in most cases, we urge people to pursue other methods of resolution first. Stephen summed this nicely when we spoke about putting this guide together,

“People think solicitors want it to go to court ‘for the money’ – but we don’t. We’re Family Solicitors who best help clients outside the courtroom. Going to court racks up costs and prolongs the whole process for everyone.

“Once it gets to court, all that’s happening – essentially – is both sides presenting their case, challenging what they believe is incorrect, and then a judge decides who’s right on which bits and sets the agreement. But getting prepared for court, the time for us or someone else to you in court and the court costs all need paying for. Why not do the negotiating without the court battle?”

And all of that doesn’t mention the time spent waiting for a court hearing and the risk of postponements or adjournment. All the while as time ticks on, costs are up, the emotional stress is prolonged and at least one of you will be wishing you could have solved it another way.

At the end of it all, besides being divorced, what you’re really needing is the Financial Consent Order.

What a Financial Consent Order is (and why you really need one)

In brief: It’s a legally binding court order that formally separates the finances of a divorcing couple. Without it, anything you informally ‘agree’ when divorcing is not legally enforced.

In the same way a divorce is the legal ending of your marriage, a Financial Consent Order is the legal separation of your financial commitment to each other. It’s the clean break and the line in the sand that means neither of you can come back one day in the future and make a financial claim against the other.

Who’s keeping what is all part of the Order. It’s the true clean break you’re looking for.

But without it, you have an ongoing risk living in the background.

Why you need a Financial Consent Order

Without a Financial Consent Order your finances are indefinitely at risk to a claim from your ex. You could have been divorced for 20 years, but they can still come and make a financial claim, even against finances or assets accrued post-divorce (cash windfalls, enhanced pensions, increased salary… it’s all open to being claimed).
What happens to property and other asset ownership is locked down. Whilst agreeing to divorce, they might also agree that you and the kids stay in the family home. But without it being formalised in a Consent Order, there’s always the risk they’ll come back for ‘what’s theirs’ when their own circumstances suit.
It’s the only way to protect your pension entitlement from the marital pension pot. We’ll look more into pensions in the next section, but a Financial Consent Order is the only way to make sure you get what’s legally yours.

In our experience, the most valuable contributor to the marital finances is sometimes the overlooked and one that cannot be separated and divided without legal input: pensions.

If you take nothing else away from this guide, be sure to consider getting professional advice about your pension entitlement following separation.

Section 3: Pensions: If either of you has a Defined Benefit Pension, read this section extra carefully

Not all pensions are equal and these are the ones that need special attention

Whether you’re 5 or 50 years from retirement, now is the time to pay close attention to pensions. If you or your spouse have a Defined Benefit Pension it’s crucial you seek legal advice.

To be clear, here are the kind of pensions we’re talking about:

Public Sector Pensions such as: NHS Pension Scheme, Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS), Police Pension Scheme, Fire Service Pension Scheme, Armed Forces Pension Scheme, Civil Service Pension Scheme, Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
Private Sector Defined Benefit Pensions from companies with enhanced benefits, for example: Kellogg’s, BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, British Steel, BT, and many other large businesses in manufacturing, defence, banking, utilities and the postal service.

Most of these schemes are now closed to new members but if you or your spouse worked for a large employer before the mid-2000s, there’s a strong chance a Defined Benefit Pension entitlement still exists.

To work out what these pensions are worth, the courts will ask you to obtain the Cash Equivalent Transfer Value (CETV), but this can often be problematic.

Why relying on the CETV to value your pension leave one of you significantly worse off

This is problematic because the cost of buying an annuity which produces the same benefits as the original pension can far exceed the figure provided for the CETV.

In other words, the figure provided for the CETV is often far less than the real value of the pension.

Stephen has worked on a large number of these cases over the past 20 years and says,

“The classic scenario we’ve seen is that the divorcing wife ends up keeping the house whilst the husband keeps their Defined Benefit Pension. She thinks she got the better deal but isn’t seeing the true value of the pension.”

The way to properly solve this is to dig deeper and engage the help of a Pension on Divorce Expert (PODE).

Why a solicitor can help ring-fence and protect what’s yours

I’ve previously mentioned that the default starting position is a 50:50 split of the matrimonial pot. However, it’s important to correctly calculate how much of any relevant pension forms part of the matrimonial pot.

As an example, if a person has worked in the police for 40 years and the marriage lasted for 10 of those, the officer may want to try to persuade the court to allow them to ring fence the premarital part of their pension. And this is something we can help with.

I liken this whole exercise to that of dividing up a pie. By asking the right questions, I can work with you to ensure the slice of pie that gets cut out of the pension for the other person when you separate is the right size.

Or if the right questions aren’t asked, the whole thing could be split 50:50.

The other thing worth noting is that, of course, all of this is just a general example. Your scenario might well be different.

Another reason to at least schedule a consultation call with a family law solicitor before you lose out on an element of Defined Benefit Pension you’re actually entitled to.

We’re seeing some interesting gender dynamics at play when it comes to pensions

We’re seeing some interesting trends recently that challenge the old trope that ‘she keeps the house, he keeps his pension’ when a married couple separates and gets a divorce.

I’m including them here so you can consider them for your own scenario and approach your Financial Consent Order as fully prepared as possible.

Often, dads’ expectations need to be managed correctly right from the outset. Even though today’s fathers contribute more to childcare and managing the home than previous generations, typically, the primary carer is still the mother which has an impact of on both her career and pension. This must be considered when sorting the finances.

At the same time, many men – not all, but it’s common enough to notice – will be more likely to think short term and ‘want out’ as quickly and simply as possible, even if it’s to the detriment of their future self. This could be the wrong .

I’ll say to them, ‘Look, you might be entitled to some of her pension. She’s been working in the NHS for twenty years.’ And they’ll often say, ‘I’m not bothered about that. I just want out.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Well, what are you going to live on? You’re just going to get state pension while she’s got a comfortable retirement?’

It’s not about being ruthless. It’s about not walking away from what you’re entitled to.

And this is a growing more common as women are more commonly working in the public sector than in years gone by. This then means an increasing amount of husbands are entitled to their share of that healthy pension after the divorce.

And when men do pursue the pension and other financial entitlements they’re entitled too, many women are shocked. But the 50:50 split basis as a starting point does mean it works both ways.

What’s hopefully resonating here is that 50:50 is a good starting point in spirit, but it’s not as simple as that when pensions are involved.

So, even when you can resolve everything amicably, it’s well worth the peace of mind to engage at least some legal advice before preparing the Financial Consent Order. And then you can both truly move on to healthier, happier lives.

In the next section, I’ll explore how much you can expect to pay and how you can control the costs.

Section 4: How much does financial separation cost and how do you control solicitor fees?

How much it costs and how payment works

At every single consultation call, ‘how much will it cost?’ comes up at some point. The analogy I use it that it’s like a taxi service. And I ask, ‘How much does a taxi cost?’

Well, it depends whether you’re just going a couple of miles down the road on a Sunday morning or to the other side of town at rush hour, or whether you must make three drops on the way and how long you keep the driver waiting each time.

Like a taxi driver, a solicitor will charge when the meter’s running and the meter’s running whenever we work on your file. The more complicated the case or more chasing of information is needed, the more it will cost.

However, here are some purely illustrative figures to help you get a sense of cost:

Completing a Financial Consent Order where matters are agreed:
Family Law Mediation / Solicitor-Led Negotiations: Typically, £1,500-£5,000+ + VAT + Financial Consent Order Costs
Settle at Initial Court Hearing: Approximately £4,000-£8,000+ + VAT + Court Fees + Financial Consent Order Costs

And should an additional court hearing be required, you’re looking at double those costs again. Plus, any mediation and/or solicitor-led negotiation costs that happened before reaching court proceedings would already have been paid for.

But remember, these are only illustrative figures and not an actual estimate. For a more accurate estimate, you could get in touch and tell us a little more about your situation.

How billing and payment works at Pinnington Law:

Should you instruct us, a deposit is taken and held on account ready for billing once work is completed.

As we get to know the particulars of your case, an overall estimate can be shared and billing is in line with standardised industry regulation for the solicitor on your file.

The paralegal working on your file will provide ongoing cost estimates ahead of each phase of work so that you can keep control of payments.

Then a fully itemised invoice will be issued and your money on account will be billed.

What drives up the cost and how can you keep costs down

Timely communication and information sharing is key to controlling costs

Slow communication and being slow providing information are what most often drive-up costs. When we were discussing this topic, Curtis and I both had live files that came to mind. In his example, we’re waiting on instruction from our client after we’ve given them advice,

“For various reasons, one of my clients was finding it difficult to make decisions and provide with an instruction. It’s understandable as divorce can be so overwhelming – adjusting to life as a single parent, managing the children’s emotions around the separation, juggling appointments with estate agents or financial advisors – but, in the end, it can increase costs. When the other party gets frustrated they can instruct their solicitor to send chasing letters which inevitably increases both parties’ costs.”

My example is the other way around and the other party is causing the delays. Communication is by far the biggest cost-influencing factor, but there are other ways to control costs.

Other ways you can control costs

First, completing all the divorce process yourself will immediately save hundreds of pounds in legal costs. This is something that I often advise during an initial consultation call.

Also, if the other party’s solicitor is a Family Law specialist with a good reputation, it makes things cheaper for everyone involved.

Finally, always be sure to present all the relevant information that your solicitor requests in a full and timely manner. Providing it when asked will keep your costs to a minimum on your file. Be ready with payslips, pension information, bank statements, mortgage statements and identification documents.

The best way you can control costs is by being organised in advance, ready to gather and provide documents and information as needed and responding promptly to communication from your and their solicitor.

Section 5: Speaking to a Solicitor is free, totally confidential and commits you to nothing

Every consultation call we take is entirely confidential, no-obligation and totally free. It commits you to nothing – but can leave you better prepared for the journey ahead.

In this call, if we’re not the right fit for you, we’ll tell you and signpost you to a firm who’s a better fit.

In my experience, by the end of the call, you’ll know whether you want to take the next step. And the question I hear when people are ready is always the same:

“What do I need to do for you to open a file?” And we take it from there.

It’s really that simple.

But if you’re not ready for a call right now, why not check out an anonymised client story. They’re a client I worked with and managed to help get the best possible solution for them and their children. Check it out here.

Important disclaimer: None of this content is financial or legal advice. We are purely illustrating what we see happening to many of our clients and hoping to help you understand the importance of investigating any divorce and/or financial separation with proper financial and legal advice in mind.