Divorce Solicitors

Divorce can be confusing, frustrating and stressful, especially where there are children, high value assets and other complicated issues to deal with. The right legal guidance can make things much easier for you and your loved ones, helping you to achieve a fair outcome that allows you to move on as quickly as possible.

At IBB Law, we are not your typical law firm. Our family solicitors specialise in high-value divorces involving assets up to £10m, with specific expertise handling complex situations with an international element. We offer bespoke legal support with exceptional personal service, backed by decades of legal expertise.

By balancing sympathetic personal support with clear, straight-talking legal guidance, we can make every stage of your divorce as simple and successful as possible for you. We will make sure we know exactly what you need to achieve and then explain all of the available options, so you can make informed decisions about your divorce to match your priorities.

Wherever possible, we will seek to avoid conflict and the need for court proceedings by helping you to reach an agreement with your spouse on the details of your divorce. We also have strong expertise in mediation, collaborative law and other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques which can facilitate this process. This means that, in most cases, we can resolve matters without the need for you to go to court.

In the event parties can’t reach an agreement and court proceedings are necessary, our team has the experience to guide you through this process and secure a positive outcome for you. We can represent you during court proceedings ourselves, as well as having strong working relationships with a number of specialist barristers who we can instruct on your behalf.

Our divorce solicitors are based in West London and Buckinghamshire, but we work with clients all over the UK and abroad. We are happy to meet in person, as well as working over the phone, by email and through video messaging, so we can fit around your busy schedule.

To speak to a member of our family law team about your divorce or to arrange an initial fixed fee consultation, please contact your local IBB Law office in Beaconsfield, Reading or Uxbridge, or email familylaw@ibblaw.co.uk.

Why IBB Law are the right choice for your divorce

Our divorce solicitors are known as leaders in their field, consistently receiving very positive feedback from clients with much of our work coming through our reputation and recommendations.

We hold a number of valuable professional memberships and have won recognition from leading client guides the Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners.

Our divorce solicitors’ expertise includes:

• Undefended divorce
• Defended divorce
• Separation agreements
• Annulments
• High Net Worth divorce
• Judicial separations
• International divorce

The team is led by Amanda Melton a highly respected family solicitor with many years of experience, in particular with complex financial assets for medium to high net worth clients. Amanda has been recognised in the Legal 500 for combining “exceptional professional knowledge with strong interpersonal skills” as well as for her “straight-talking approach and honesty about the potential pitfalls of a case”.

Our Family Law team is ranked Tier 1 by the Legal 500 for Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Middlesex, as well as being Band 2 ranked by Chambers & Partners for Thames Valley. This recognises our status as one of the leading teams of family solicitors in the South East.

Our divorce solicitors are members of Resolution, a network of legal experts committed to removing conflict from family law. This reflects the strong emphasis we place on making divorce and separation easier and less stressful for you and your loved ones.

How we can help you with your divorce

Divorce Proceedings

Our divorce solicitors can guide you through every stage of getting divorced, including:

• Filling out and submitting a divorce petition
• Responding to a divorce petition from your spouse
• Cross-petitioning for divorce
• Applying for the Decree Absolute to legally end your marriage

By providing clear, practical advice, we can help to make sure every stage of your divorce proceedings goes ahead as swiftly and smoothly as possible, letting you get divorced faster and with less stress.

Divorce Settlements

We can help with all of the financial aspects of divorce, allowing you to get a fair settlement that provides for your future so you can make a fresh start.

Our divorce finance expertise includes:

• High value and complex finances
• Properties
• Business ownership
• Shares and investments
• Pensions
• International assets
• The application of pre-nuptial agreements and post-nuptial agreements

We can advise on issues including dividing assets, finding and tracing assets, inheritance issues, family trusts, family homes, second properties, ringfencing assets and Capital Gains Tax considerations.

Arrangements for Children

Making arrangements for your child during divorce and separation is always a priority. The sooner you can get permanent arrangements in place, the easier it will be for your children and for you.

We can help sort out issues including:

• Where your children will live
• Shared care arrangements
• Child Arrangements Orders
• Relocating with your child
• Parental responsibility
• Taking children abroad following divorce and separation

Avoiding unnecessary conflict is particularly important for protecting your children’s emotional wellbeing. We have a strong focus on using mediation and collaborative law to help you reach an agreement with your former partner that protects your rights as a parent and your children’s best interests while letting you avoid the need for court proceedings.

Legal Separation

If you have personal, religious or cultural reasons for wishing to avoid a divorce, a legal separation can be a good option.

Our Family Law team can advise you on various options, including:

• Applying for a judicial separation
• Creating a separation agreement
• Making temporary or permanent arrangements for your children

Agreeing how to divide assets upon separation can allow you and your ex-partner to start living independent lives, while ensuring you have certainty over your finances, where your children will live and other key practical issues.

Same-sex Divorce

We can advise same sex couples on the legal aspects of divorce and separation, including:

• Same-sex divorce proceedings
• Civil partnership dissolution
• Understanding how issues such as same-sex infidelity are treated differently under English law than for opposite-sex couples
• The application of pre-nuptial agreements and pre-civil partnership agreements

Using our specific expertise with same-sex divorce and separation, we can help to ensure you are able to legally end your relationship quickly and effectively, without being caught out by any unexpected issues connected to this specialist area of family law.

Coercive Control

There is a growing awareness around the issue of coercive and controlling behaviour in relationships and the impact this can have during divorce and separation. Our solicitors are experienced in supporting victims of coercive control, including with:

• Applying for court orders to protect you and your loved ones
• Dealing with the financial issues arising from a divorce or separation
• Seek financial maintenance
• Initiating divorce proceedings
• Representing you in proceedings

By providing clear, sympathetic advice, we can help guide you through the process of ending a relationship under these difficult circumstances while protecting you and your loved ones physically, emotionally and financially.

Read more about coercive and controlling behaviour.

How we can make your divorce easier for you

We know how hard divorce can be. We use our expertise and specialist skills to make the divorce process as straight-forward as possible, while making sure you get the right outcome for your long-term future.

Our divorce solicitors in Buckinghamshire, the Thames Valley, and West London can adapt our approach to your situation and needs. We are highly skilled in taking a non-confrontational approach to relationship breakdown but also have the strong divorce court experience needed to represent you if court proceedings are required.

We can offer various options for handling the details of your divorce, allowing you to achieve a separation that works for you as quickly and effectively as possible.

Family Mediation

Mediation involves you and your former partner meeting with one of our trained mediators to discuss the practical details of your divorce or separation, and reach an agreement over how this should be dealt with, including dividing assets and making arrangements for your children. The process usually takes around three to five sessions to reach an agreement.

During each session, the mediator acts as a neutral third-party to facilitate your discussion, defuse any potential conflict and guide you towards agreeing solutions. Any agreement you reach will be voluntary but can be made legally binding by ensuring that the agreement is  drafted into a Consent Order.

Our family mediators include IBB Law Partner Kate Ryan, who has particular expertise with using mediation to secure high value divorce settlements and understand the issues parties face when trying to reach an agreement during this difficult time

Collaborative law

This approach offers another alternative to divorce court proceedings that is often more suitable for those with complex finances and other challenging issues to resolve

Collaborative law involves you, your former partner and your respective solicitors meeting for a series of four-way ‘round the table’ discussions. Both solicitors must be specially trained in collaborative law and you can also have other professional experts, such as accountants and financial advisers, sit in on the meetings where their advice would be beneficial.

Having this expertise on hand can make it easier to unpick more complicated issues, while giving you confidence that your legal rights are staying protected at all times.

Anything you discuss during the collaborative law process cannot be used in court if you later need to issue proceedings and your respective solicitors cannot represent you in any subsequent court proceedings. This helps to encourage an open approach to seeking a solution and ensures everyone is fully committed to making the process work.

Arbitration

Arbitration can be highly effective for resolving disputes around arrangements for children and financial matters during divorce and separation. It involves both parties agreeing to having an independent arbitrator review their situation and make a decision about how any points of contention should be resolved. The arbitrator’s decision can then be formalised in a written agreement  and filed with the court for approval.

Arbitration is often a more cost-effective and faster way to deal with issues surrounding divorce and separation. It can also allow you to keep the details of your arrangements private.

Divorce court proceedings

We recognise that not all divorces can be resolved without some assistance from the  court. Our team is highly experienced in dealing with the court process. Our divorce solicitors can help you to effectively prepare your case and represent you in court, as well as securing specialist representation from highly regarded barristers where required.

We know that many people find the idea of going to court stressful and intimidating, so we will do everything we can to assist you with the process, offering clear legal advice and support for every stage of the process.

Related legal services we offer for your divorce

Working alongside our divorce solicitors, we have a number of specialist teams who can help with some of the key practical issues connected to divorce and separation, such as dealing with your family home and lifetime planning to protect your assets

Conveyancing

Our Residential Property team are accredited by the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme and can help with selling your marital home, buying a new home, remortgaging, transfer of ownership and any other property issues involved in your divorce.

Wills, Trusts & Probate

Our Wills & Inheritance Quality Scheme accredited Wills, trusts and probate solicitors can help you with updating your Will to reflect the change in your personal circumstances, as well as all other aspects of lifetime planning.

Our divorce fees

We want you to be in complete control of the cost of your divorce, so make our fees clear and transparent at all times. Our team will provide you with clear cost estimates at the start and throughout your case, with a number of different options available to fund your divorce, depending on your circumstances.

Initial fixed fee divorce consultation

We offer an initial divorce consultation at a reduced fixed fee, allowing you to explain your situation, any specific concerns you have and what you want to achieve. Our expert divorce solicitors will then be able to give you initial guidance on the various options available to you and the likely costs involved.

Fixed fee divorce

We are able to deal with some aspects of the divorce process on a fixed fee basis. This involves our solicitors agreeing a set price with you to complete a specific piece of work e.g. assistance with preparing and submitting a divorce petition. This gives you certainty over the costs involved.

 Individual charge-out rates for divorce

For more complicated matters, such as dealing with the financial aspect of divorce, we will work to a pre-agreed hourly rate. This means you will be charged for the exact amount of time we spend working on your case.

This approach means you can have exactly as much or as little support as you need, while staying in  control of the cost of your divorce.

To find out more about our divorce fees, please take a look at our pricing policy.

Speak to our expert divorce solicitors in West London, Buckinghamshire, and the Thames Valley.

For sympathetic, expert advice on dealing with any aspect of divorce, you can speak to us in absolute confidence by contacting your local IBB Law office in Beaconsfield, Reading or Uxbridge. Alternatively, you can email us at familylaw@ibblaw.co.uk.