Deed of Seperation

Soz*

Hi All

I'm not a regular poster to the site so apologies if this is in the wrong place, moderators - feel free to move.
Read plenty of info on the site from some very helpful posters in relation to DIY divorces and different poster's divorce and seperation experiences.
Myself and my husband seperated in March this year after a brief 18 month marriage. We have no children. We own a house together but he is considering buying me out and we are exploring that option at the minute. Everything is amicable so far and hopefully it stays that way. I was wondering if people could share their experiences of going through a Deed of Seperation as opposed to Judicial Seperation? I'm getting quoted in the region of £2k each to draw up and execute a Deed of Seperation, seems very steep when there are no major complications? Are there any templates as such where we could draw this up ourselves and then engage a solicitor to execute the Deed for us?

I'd be more than grateful for any advice.

Thanks

Esroh

Get in touch with the family Mediation Services. All the Info on
http://www.familymediation.ie.

They will explain the whole process and cut legal fees to a minimum

Wisco

Definitely shop around or get personal recommendations from friends for a solicitor. 2K seems like a lot, I was quoted a LOT less than that, although haven't gotten the final bill yet and things got a little more complicated than I thought they would be (similar situation to you- no kids, no assets, relatively short marriage, not even a house)

LegacyUser

Hey,
I've recently come through this process. My situation was also relatively straightforward - a relatively short marriage, we had a house but no kids. The separation was relatively amicable but we still engaged our own separate solicitors, so it was costly enough. Mine cost me about €2700 for the separation alone. The conveyancing costs for the sale of the house was on top of that again.

I think you'll find that those costs are ballpark, unless you are still on very good terms with him/her and can share one solicitor/representative or something like that. I'm not even sure how feasible that is, as in my experience, there was a lot of too-ing and frowing between both sides over what I would have considered relatively trivial issues.

The whole process took almost a year to complete for me. Then in another 3 years we apply for divorce... more costs.

ABajaninCork

If there is no chance of reconciliation, can you not just go for divorce?

If this sounds like a stupid question, please excuse my ignorance. I don't understand the concept of a formal separation as I'm not Irish...:)

Nevyn

You have to be formally legally separated first and then file for divorce at a later date.

LegacyUser

ABajaninCork wrote: »

If there is no chance of reconciliation, can you not just go for divorce?

If this sounds like a stupid question, please excuse my ignorance. I don't understand the concept of a formal separation as I'm not Irish...:)

You must be formally separated and living apart (i.e. no longer living as husband and wife) for a minimum period of 4 years before you can apply for divorce. The 4 years actually begins at the agreed point when your relationship ended and not when the separation was formalized, i.e. I'm only just recently legallyseparated but in reality I've been separated well over a year, if you get me.

Wisco

Actually, I think you just have to live apart for 4 years before you can file for divorce. But most people go for a legal separation before the divorce as it means legalities (like dividing assets, sorting out kids, etc) can be done before the final divorce.
And yes, it's a ridiculous system.