The house was bought from the council under Right to Buy, the mortgage is nearly paid off, and it is the only thing of value either spouse has ever owned. That is the starting point for a large share of the divorces that reach solicitors in Barking and Dagenham, and the question is how to turn one modest house into two homes. The answer is often easier here than in inner London: because Barking and Dagenham has the cheapest housing in the capital, a spouse with a steady job can sometimes raise a small mortgage to buy the other out while the children stay at the same school.
Where that is not possible the court falls back on the usual tools: a sale and division of the equity, a postponed sale until the youngest child is grown, or a larger share for the parent with the children in exchange for giving up a claim on the other's pension. Shared-ownership flats at Barking Riverside raise their own problem, because the housing association has to agree to any transfer, and young couples frequently have debts rather than assets, which the court divides as well.
Divorce has been no-fault since April 2022: an online application, twenty weeks before the conditional order and six more before the final order. Agreed finances go to the East London Family Court as a consent order; contested cases are heard there after a mediation information and assessment meeting.
Expect a fixed fee for the divorce application and hourly rates for the finances. Legal aid is available only where there is evidence of domestic abuse.
Divorce firms serving Barking and Dagenham are listed below, verified firms first. The explainers on the divorce process and the cost of a divorce are a good start, the general divorce solicitors page describes the service, and children and injunctions are covered by family law solicitors in Barking and Dagenham.
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