Cheshire's Biggest Law Firm Pioneers fixed fees for Divorces

Telephone number settlements arising from celebrity and super-rich divorces are putting ordinary people off filing for separation.

The fear of funding a split has been causing so much concern amongst unhappy couples that Cheshire’s biggest law firm, SAS Daniels LLP, with offices in Stockport, Macclesfield, Chester, Congleton, and Bramhall, is taking a radical approach to help liberate those trapped in a dead end marriage.

“We’ve thought long and hard about this, and while the standard response to a question about how much a divorce or Civil Partnership dissolution would cost is usually ‘how long is a piece of string?’ we’ve decided that it’s time for legal scissors to come into play: we’re introducing fixed fees for divorces and Civil Partnership dissolutions,” said Sandra Sinclair of SAS Daniels LLP.

“While divorces are more common, there’s also a great deal more publicity about them – the only problem is that the ones that get publicity are simply not representative of the average or typical break-up.

“While we are seeing more people than normal filing for divorce, we don’t believe everybody who wants to separate is actually applying to do so – the perceived cost is scaring people into staying in a failed marriage when the best thing that both sides could do is to simply get on with filing for divorce.

“The best way we can see round this is by charging a fixed fee: everybody knows where they stand cost-wise, and it provides great simplicity and clarity at a time when people’s minds are extremely cluttered.

“It is only usually when one or both parties have highly unreasonable aspirations or are extremely bitter and perhaps a little vitriolic that a divorce can get complicated.

“The cost is usually in the length of the dispute or negotiation, not the value of a couple’s possessions.

“Our family department team is highly qualified in all aspects of law relating to divorce, so we are extremely confident that the fixed fee we quote for a client will be reasonable and equitable all round.

“We’ll take the risk if things do get complicated and cost us – rather than the client – more money, but we see this move as the key to unlocking failed marriages where the perception of high costs is forcing unhappy couples to stay together.”

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