Does a civil partnership end the same way as a marriage? In Brighton & Hove the question comes up more than almost anywhere, and the answer is yes: dissolution follows the same no-fault process that has applied to divorce since April 2022, with an online application, a twenty-week wait before the conditional order and the same powers for the family court to divide money, property and pensions. Divorce solicitors in the city act for same-sex and opposite-sex couples alike, from a thirty-year marriage in Hove to a two-year civil partnership in Kemptown.
The money is where the work lies. Brighton & Hove has house prices to match the most expensive parts of the south coast, but a large share of its homes are leasehold flats in converted Regency and Victorian buildings, so the first question is often whether the flat can be kept at all once one income is paying for it. Many couples have one partner commuting to London and one working locally, which affects how earnings and childcare are weighed, and pensions from the NHS, the universities, the council and the city's financial services employers frequently need a pension sharing order. Business owners in the creative and digital sector need their companies valued before anything can be agreed.
When a couple agrees, the solicitor turns the deal into a consent order for a judge at the Brighton family court to approve without a hearing. Contested finance and children cases go through the same court, and most applicants must first attend a mediation information and assessment meeting.
A fixed fee for the divorce or dissolution itself is usual; financial work is charged by the hour or in stages. Legal aid is limited to cases involving domestic abuse.
The divorce firms serving Brighton & Hove are listed below, verified firms first. See the divorce process, how much a divorce costs, the general divorce solicitors guide and, for children and cohabitation, family law solicitors in Brighton & Hove.
