How to achieve an amicable divorce

I was interested to read that a divorce app has been created, to help people achieve an amicable divorce. 

I am 100% for achieving an amicable divorce, but I am concerned that people using this app would not receive any legal advice. Simply obtaining a divorce can be straightforward, and people don’t need a solicitor to do this.  It is when it comes to the finances that things get complicated and people really benefit from legal advice, to discuss things like property ownership, pensions and tax implications.  

If any of my friends or family asked me the best way to achieve an amicable divorce, I would suggest the following:- 

1) Have one proper meeting with a good solicitor, to get some initial advice.  

2) Go to mediation with your spouse (if mediation is appropriate).  Choose a good mediator who can provide you with lots of information – a lot of mediators are also lawyers.  Mediation sessions usually cost around £350 plus VAT, and usually between 3 and 5 sessions are needed – the cost is shared.  The lawyer who you initially saw will be on hand to answer any specific questions that you have about the options you are considering. 

3) When decisions have been made, go back to your lawyer and have the decisions drawn up into a legally binding agreement. The cost of this will depend on how complicated the agreement is. 

In my experience, people rarely end up in Court because they want to. It is usually for a reason, such as one person isn’t being honest about what the own, or one person is being unreasonable. 

If you’d like to discuss anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. 

And now we can add getting a divorce to that list, because someone’s just developed an app which will help you terminate your marriage.

Amicable claims to be a ‘faster, fairer, fixed-price way to separate’, which helps users make arrangements for their children, spit their finances fairly and deal with paperwork.

The app offers arbitration, a divorce coach and lots of practical advice to help people reach a fairer divorce faster, to simplify the process and reduce their costs.