Two salaries, two small children and a terraced house between the commons bought when it was still affordable: that is the divorce a Wandsworth solicitor sees most often. Neither spouse can buy the other out and stay in the same streets, the schools were the reason the family moved here, and the house is nearly the whole of the marital pot. Finding a settlement that keeps the children near school and friends without leaving one parent in a bedsit is the job.
The divorce itself has been a formality since April 2022. One spouse applies, or both together, nobody alleges fault, and the conditional order cannot be made for twenty weeks. The money takes the time. In Wandsworth the family home may sit alongside a flat at Nine Elms bought as an investment, a City pension, share options or property abroad, since many couples at the Battersea end of the borough are from overseas and may have a choice of countries in which to divorce. That choice should be made early.
Most financial cases settle. A mediation information and assessment meeting is required before a court application unless there has been abuse, collaborative law and arbitration are well used in south-west London, and an agreement becomes binding once a judge approves it as a consent order. Contested cases go through the family court; a Wandsworth case may be listed centrally or at a court elsewhere in south London, so ask the solicitor where to expect it.
Fees are usually fixed for the divorce application and hourly for the finances, with a free or short fixed-fee first meeting offered by many firms. Legal aid is only available where there is evidence of domestic abuse.
Divorce solicitors near Wandsworth are listed below, verified firms first. Our explainers cover the divorce process and how much a divorce costs, the divorce solicitors page describes the service generally, and where children are involved family law solicitors in Wandsworth is the better starting point.
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