Solicitors Fees for signing Separation Agreement

thefed

Hi I was wondering if anyone could help. I am in the process of separated and our agreement will be ready to sign by us in a couple of weeks. After this is signed I have to take it to a solicitors and they "legal jargon" it and then it is signed by the two of us then he goes and gets a solicitor and does the same.

My question is does anyone know of solicitors that do this at a reasonable rate... I have heard from €300 to €2k. I am not looking for advice from the solicitor as we have spent months on the agreement and are happy with it. Just need to legalise the document and have it signed.

Any help would be really appreciated

thanks

SoapMcTavish

I'm currently in the middle of a separation. We are doing the agreement at the moment. Reasonably amicable - and we both have quotes of around 3k from our respective solicitors.

thefed

Hi thanks for that info... glad its reasonably amicable... OMG 3k - as you are doing your own agreement - they just need to put it into legal jargon - could that really cost €3k?

We have been working on ours for month in paid mediation.... so really just want a signature...on both of them.... will keep looking and googling and see if anyone knows
solicitors that would be cheaper

deandean

If both parties are in agreement, and it's amicable, and you're both going to stick to the terms and conditions of The Separation agreement, I wonder if you need solicitors to sign off on it at all?

thefed

Thanks for your post. The separation is not legal until its signed off by solicitors for each of us....

Its just frustrating getting quotes and all the work is done... dont need advice... my one has to be legalised then signed by solicitor then I give it to him and his solicitor literally just signs it

Henry Ford III

Why can't you agree to just do a DIY divorce? Costs a few hundred only.

thefed

Well we have the whole agreement done now via the mediator. So don't think DIY Divorce would be any quicker or cheaper? Maybe it is I have not looked into it. At this stage I just need signatures from Solicitors and then its all legal.

Markcheese

My separation agreement was done with family mediation agreement... They advise having it checked by your solicitor... I was quoted 2 grand for having it checked... And my ex would have had a similar bill... To be honest if you're happy with the agreement I don't think it makes much difference whether a solicitor reworks it anyway... It's an agreement of intent.... Until your divorce comes through things are subject to change....

UsBus

If you want to get a mortgage, you need a legal separation agreement. Better off to get things legalised as soon as possible. If you wait the 4 out of 5 years living apart for the divorce, yes it will be cheaper but a lot can change in that time. You may be amicable now, but by then you could have a dispute or claim coming through.. If it did end up in court, the courts will respect what was agreed to in the legal agreement.

I think 2k is the average being quoted, can be a lot more depending on who you get..

racso1975

OK I presume I went the same way you are talking. Separation agreement made. Then by making it legal it requires attending court to be signed off in front of a judge. That involves a barrister. I presented our agreement to solicitor. It basically got retyped then presented in court. There was one or 2 changes on the day from her and all in cost just under 3k. I do think her bill was close to 5k though which she was not expecting.

UsBus

racso1975 wrote: »

OK I presume I went the same way you are talking. Separation agreement made. Then by making it legal it requires attending court to be signed off in front of a judge. That involves a barrister. I presented our agreement to solicitor. It basically got retyped then presented in court. There was one or 2 changes on the day from her and all in cost just under 3k. I do think her bill was close to 5k though which she was not expecting.

Well we didn't have to go to court. Everything was amicable and agreed so the agreement just needed to be signed by both of us and witnessed by the solicitors. Still ended up costing 3K in total...money for jam, we did all the work. I suppose you are paying for their experience and expertise in their position.

SoapMcTavish

UsBus wrote: »

Well we didn't have to go to court. Everything was amicable and agreed so the agreement just needed to be signed by both of us and witnessed by the solicitors. Still ended up costing 3K in total...money for jam, we did all the work. I suppose you are paying for their experience and expertise in their position.

Exactly the same for me. We drafted the agreement ourselves, my solicitor tweaked and sent to her legal team, she signed - returned to me and we're done. €2800 for me, €3200 for her.
25 year marriage torn apart in a couple of weeks, and 2 large legal bills when everything was so straightforward. We are on good terms with each other so was no contention or argument. Both heartbroken but it just wasn't working.

racso1975

OK well my upstanding was that if there is a property to be signed over or a buyout that the bank required it to be agreed in court?

SoapMcTavish

racso1975 wrote: »

OK well my upstanding was that if there is a property to be signed over or a buyout that the bank required it to be agreed in court?

I'm buying out my wife. I'm keeping the home, and I remortgaged to get the full and fair equity for my wife. This is part of our separation agreement. She also had to sign release waivers regarding property title deeds and succession rights. These documents are enough for the bank to release the funds to my solicitor who then pays my wife. No court involved.
I think you may be thinking about a judicial separation where no agreement is in place ?

2012paddy2012

You are obliged to get an independant solicitor to loom over your argument from mediation.. You won't be entertained by judge otherwise even if it's an agreement by consent.
I'm being charged 3000 by one solicitor for separatiin and divorce... I cannot find any other solicitor to go through the exercise of going through the agreement for the purpose of the exercise to allow matters to conclude. It's very frustrating especially if all is agreed and your still friends but not as a married couple. Any advice appreciated particularity from people that have been through the process

christy02

We got separation completed during mediation. I didn't go near a solicitor until I started divorce proceedings a few years later. He basically said that the agreement was not worth paper it was written on and everything was up for grabs in the divorce.

Paid 10k in total for divorce. 3k sounds way too low. Barrister cost nearly that alone for the day in court.

2012paddy2012

If you had gone to a solicitor and your partner.... and had the mediation document drawn up it has full legal standing. You can sell the house etc... Fully legal based on it. Few hundred euro each.
Live your separate lives.
4 Years separated.. you can pay 500 or 600 to the likes of any DIY divorce company who will advise and assist you in divorce application. Generally I understand judge will issue divorce if the necessary proofs are established to the courts satisfaction... Info from mediator yesterday... Re legal separation. Advise from solicitor as regards Divorce... (By consent)... With neither party having issues.
Ireland.... Either party can go for the second bite of the cherry if financial circumstances differ dramatically... Remember!