Herschel Law is a firm of family law solicitors at 60 High Street, Slough, acting on divorce, financial settlements and arrangements for children. An uncontested divorce is £900 plus VAT if you are applying and £700 plus VAT if you are responding. Financial and children’s matters are charged by the hour, with an estimate before we start.
The divorce is usually the simplest part. Since April 2022 it has been no-fault: you say the marriage has broken down, nothing has to be proved and your spouse cannot stop it. The Financials and the children take longer but will transform your life afterwards.
They are three separate questions with three separate timetables, and people often tangle them together. At the first meeting we pull them apart and tell you which are really in dispute. That is what separates a bill you can predict from one you cannot.
You can come in before you have decided anything. What you tell us is confidential.
The application goes to the court and your spouse is sent a copy. The process has fixed waiting periods built in, so it cannot be hurried, but it can be done calmly. If you are the one receiving the application, you usually need only acknowledge it and check the details are right.
A divorce does not divide your money. A separate financial order does, and without one a former spouse can make a claim against you years later. We deal with disclosure, negotiate where we can and apply to the court where we cannot. Most agreements are recorded in a consent order so that they bind both of you.
Parents are expected to agree arrangements between themselves, and the court expects you to have considered mediation before you apply. Where agreement is impossible the court decides, putting the child's welfare ahead of either parent's wishes. We help you reach an arrangement that will work until the children approx 18-21years. In cases where children have special needs this will be longer.
There is no such thing as a common-law marriage in England and Wales. If you are not married or in a civil partnership you have no automatic claim on your partner's home or income when you separate, however long you lived together. Your position rests on the title deeds, any trust and any written agreement, so the paperwork matters more than the years.
A pre-nuptial agreement is not automatically binding in England and Wales, but a court gives it real weight if it was made fairly, with full disclosure and well before the wedding. We also act on separation agreements and on urgent applications where there is a safety concern.
The fees below are our professional charges. VAT is shown at 20 per cent so you can see the total. Your written quote confirms the fee, itemises the disbursements and says what is included, before any chargeable work begins.
| Service | Our fee | VAT and total |
|---|---|---|
| Divorce, acting for the applicant (uncontested, no financial application) | £900 | £180 VAT; £1,080 total |
| Divorce, acting for the respondent (uncontested) | £700 | £140 VAT; £840 total |
| Consent order | £1,200 | £240 VAT; £1,440 total |
| Financial settlement | £200 to £350 an hour plus VAT, £240 to £420 an hour in total, depending on the fee earner, with a range given at the outset | VAT included in stated total |
| Arrangements for children | £200 to £350 an hour plus VAT, £240 to £420 an hour in total, depending on the fee earner | VAT included in stated total |
These are starting points for a standard case, not quotations. Our guide to the cost of a divorce explains what pushes the figure up or down, and the full list of published fees is on the pricing page.
Third parties charge these amounts, not us. They sit on top of our fee and appear in your written quote.
Money and children matters cannot be fixed in advance, so we charge £200 to £350 plus VAT an hour and give you an estimated range before we start. We update you as the figure moves. On longer matters we quote stage by stage, so you decide whether to continue at each point.
The stages run in this order for most divorces, and you are told what is waiting on whom.
We separate the three questions, the divorce, the money and the children, and tell you which are in dispute. Bring your marriage certificate if you have it and a rough list of what you own and owe.
Typical timing: same or next working day.You receive a fixed fee for the divorce and an hourly estimate, with a range, for anything financial or involving children.
Typical timing: within two working days.Before applying to court about money or children you normally have to attend a mediation information meeting, unless an exemption applies, such as domestic abuse. We tell you whether it applies to you.
Typical timing: a few weeks.The application is issued and served, and the other party then has 14 days to acknowledge it.
At least 20 weeks must pass from the start of the application before a conditional order can be applied for. The period is set by statute and cannot be shortened.
Where possible we settle the finances before the final order, because the final order can affect pension and inheritance rights. The final order can be applied for six weeks and one day after the conditional order.
Your matter is handled by a named solicitor, and you are told who before you instruct us. Waqas Sabah, Director and Principal Solicitor, handles matters in this area. He was admitted as a solicitor in 2018, and you can check his entry on the SRA register under SRA number 585809.
You can read more about Waqas on his profile page, or book an initial consultation.
Solicitor — SRA No. 585809
Our fee is £900 plus VAT to act for the applicant in an uncontested divorce and £700 plus VAT to act for the respondent. The court fee is payable on top and is set by HM Courts and Tribunals Service. That covers the divorce only.
Resolving the finances or arrangements for children is separate work, charged at £200 to £350 an hour plus VAT, and we give you an estimated range before we start.
At least around seven months. The law requires 20 weeks between the application and the conditional order, then six weeks and one day before the final order. Neither period can be shortened.
Financial matters often take longer than the divorce itself, and we usually advise settling them before the final order is made.
Yes. Since April 2022 divorce in England and Wales has been no-fault. You confirm the marriage has broken down irretrievably and give no reason. The other party can contest it only on narrow technical grounds such as jurisdiction.
We can act for only one of you, because acting for both would be a conflict of interest. Your spouse can take their own advice, or deal with the matter without a solicitor if the divorce is straightforward and agreed.
The divorce can still go ahead. If your spouse does not respond to the application, you can ask the court to move it forward. The harder cases involve Financials: if your spouse withholds full disclosure, the court has powers to order it.
At the first meeting we tell you which of these situations you are likely to face.
For the divorce itself, usually not, because it is dealt with on paper. Many couples also agree financial and children matters without a hearing. If you cannot agree, a hearing is likely, and we tell you at the start how likely.
There is no fixed formula. The court starts with the needs of any children and of both spouses, and looks at the length of the marriage, what each brought to it and what each earns. Equal division is common after a long marriage, but it is a starting point, not a rule.
Yes. An agreement between the two of you does not bind either of you on its own. A consent order approved by the court does, and if it includes a clean break it also stops either of you making a financial claim against the other later.
Not automatically. Unmarried partners have no general right to share the other's home or income. Your position depends on whose name is on the property, whether there is a trust or written agreement, and whether there are children. Get advice early, because the options narrow once you separate.
Tell us where you are in the process, even if it is only that you are thinking about separating. We will say what you need to do now, what can wait and what it is likely to cost. You can reach us on 01753 299611, or send the details through the contact page.
