A house on one of Bath's hills can be worth more than everything else a couple owns put together, and that single fact gives divorce in the city its character. Selling it may be the only way to house both spouses, yet selling a listed Georgian property takes time and the market is thin; keeping it means one spouse giving up pension or savings to balance the books. Divorce solicitors in Bath spend a large part of their time on this arithmetic, with valuations, mortgage capacity and the costs of moving all in play.
Pensions are the second battleground. University, NHS and civil service schemes, and the private pensions of the professionals who commute to Bristol and London, are shared by pension sharing order, usually after an actuary has reported on their true value. Business interests, from a consultancy in Queen Square to a shop in the Guildhall Market, need valuing, and inherited wealth, trusts and gifts from parents raise arguments about what is matrimonial property and what is not. Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, often made before a second marriage, carry real weight if drafted properly, and Bath solicitors prepare a good many of them.
The divorce itself is no-fault, applied for online with a minimum of twenty weeks before the conditional order. The family court at Bath Law Courts on North Parade Road approves consent orders, and contested financial cases are heard there or, when they are substantial, in Bristol, after a mediation information and assessment meeting. Arrangements for children can be dealt with alongside.
Fixed fees for the divorce application and hourly or staged fees for financial work are usual, with a free or reduced first appointment at many firms. Legal aid is confined to cases involving domestic abuse.
The divorce solicitors serving Bath appear below, verified firms first. Read the divorce process and how much a divorce costs, see the general divorce solicitors guide, and for children the family law solicitors in Bath page.
