You Have Got To Be Tough To Be a Divorce Lawyer!

Divorce Solicitors - Newcastle and Sunderland

I have been conducting divorce cases since 1989 and have dealt with thousands of cases during my career. I have seen court fads come and go, the constant reinvention of the wheel, yet more shiny rules to replace the old shiny rules. What I have observed is that the whole process has become ever more complicated, long winded and unfortunately expensive.

In an attempt to save governments lots of money they have decimated the Legal Aid system. At every turn there are obstacles to obtaining this funding. Did you know that if you preserve assets (such as your home or savings) or recover assets from your spouse, then you have to pay back all of your legal aid costs to the Legal aid Agency?

I took the decision to stop offering legal aid work years ago. Instead of our staff each running over a hundred cases they now run less than half the number of cases. This is better for their mental health, they get to go home and see their families earlier in the day. It is also far better for our clients, their cases can be dealt with properly and quickly. We don’t have to keep stopping work on a file to ask permission from the Legal Aid Agency in order to progress a case.

Our first meeting with you involves us going through a questionnaire you have completed in advance. It means that we can then give you meaningful advice throughout the appointment. You will know what the Next Steps in Divorce will be. We often give you homework to be getting on with, such as finding the valuations of assets or tracking down old pensions and investments that have been long forgotten.

Most of our clients leave their first meeting with us saying that they feel a sense of relief. It wasn’t as bad as they thought. We aren’t here to judge you, we have all dealt with many cases and it is quite difficult to shock us.

Our aim is to use the assets available to you and your spouse to come up with a workable deal. Who will live in the house, does it need to be sold or remortgaged? What is the cost of moving home, including future mortgage payments. Where will the children live, how often will they see each parent. What is right for the children and not just convenient for a parent.

I have always taken pride in the fact that very few of our cases end up in court. It used to be about 5% but that is now rising. Often it can be 15% now. There are a number of reasons for that;

The Intransigent Solicitor

This is the solicitor who has secretly told their client to sit tight, not to do anything, be slow to produce documents, to drag the thing out. Why would they do this? So that our client can keep on working, building up value in their pension, business and savings or reducing the outstanding mortgage on the matrimonial home. It’s a great tactic, one person grafts, the other sits and reaps the benefit.

Not on my watch. I constantly alert clients to the fact that this may be happening. Whilst we hate having to take a matter to court sometimes we have to. It can speed matters up, often a deal can be struck at the first hearing. It tends to concentrate the mind of the dilly dallying party.

The Secretive Spouse

This person often hides assets, lies about the value of their business and presents limited financial information. One of the things that I love about my job is being able to become a “Private Investigator”. In one case I uncovered the fact that my client’s spouse had just sold their business for £8million. Yet according to them they were broke. I can tell you this certainly put a different slant on the financial settlement that we reached.

Or the person who provided details for one business only. Our client had no idea that there were multiple other companies owned by their spouse. Searches in Companies House lead to a trail of other companies. All of which were very profitable.

The Broke Spouse

There is a thing known amongst divorce judges as Divorceitis. The business owner who tells their spouse that if they take any money from the business it will go bust. Of course, you don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. However, there has to be a fine balance. You can’t expect to leave your spouse and/or children with nothing. I have seen wives and children using food banks to survive because the husband would not pay any maintenance. It’s a type of coercive control.

If necessary I will issue proceedings to obtain funds to cover both maintenance and legal fees so that my client is on an equal footing. When you are being brow beaten it can be very difficult to stand up for yourself.

I see our role as Divorce Lawyers as being to investigate properly, obtain true valuations, to support our clients - we can be an excellent buffer - and to obtain a deal that will mean our clients have a decent standard of living both now and in the future. Given that many of our clients are over fifty it is important not to leave them in poverty in their later years.

We can achieve all of this by way of negotiations or, if we have someone not playing the game properly, we can enforce this via the court system. Sometimes the very thought of court is enough to ensure that negotiations begin in earnest.

If you need help or advice about the possible breakdown of you relationship then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Divorce Solicitors Newcastle:  0191 284 6989

Divorce Solicitors Sunderland: 0191 567 6667

Email us: enquiries@emmersons-solicitors.co.uk

Complete our Online Enquiry Form

You can also park opposite our Sunderland Office on John Street.