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Our Family Law department comprises our Partners, Susan Wightman and Sally McCartney. Susan was admitted as a solicitor in 1987, came to Kippen Campbell in 1991, and has been a partner since 1996. She is a Law Society of Scotland Accredited Family Law Specialist, a designation first awarded to her in 1997. She is also a member of the Family Law Association and a qualified Collaborative Family Lawyer. Sally was admitted as a solicitor in 1997, joined the firm in 2003 and was assumed as a partner in 2009. She is a member of the Family Law Association.
Whether you are contemplating a separation, looking to begin divorce proceedings or you are experiencing difficulties with regard to contact with children or with finances, our Family Law solicitors are happy to meet you for a fixed fee, hour long, initial consultation, at a cost of £350 plus VAT (presently at 20%). During this consultation, you will meet a family law solicitor who will be able to give you initial advice on your circumstances and the options that may be open to you. The fixed fee will also include a follow-up letter, or email if preferred, setting out the advice given at your consultation and options to consider to resolve matters, and, where appropriate and if requested by you, appointments with other people within the firm who may be able to be of assistance to you, eg our property department for the sale or purchase of property, or our private client department to discuss Wills and Powers of Attorney. At the initial consultation, we will provide you with an estimate of the likely costs required to bring matters to a conclusion and details of payment options available.
We also offer other fixed fee services, including for simplified procedure divorces and for uncontested divorces involving children under 16. The amount of work involved in negotiating other divorce proceedings depends very much on each client’s individual situation and factors such as whether the other party co-operates, the complexity of assets involved, arrangements for the children, and matters under dispute. Given this, we charge for such work on a time basis.
The simplified procedure may be right for you if you and your spouse have no financial matters to resolve and there are no children of the relationship under 16. We offer a fixed fee service for a divorce under the simplified procedure, which involves the completion of the application for court and submitting it to court on your behalf and having the court application notarised (sworn on oath). We charge a fixed fee of £350 plus VAT (at 20%) for completing your application and obtaining divorce decree on your behalf. This charge also includes the initial consultation, so the total cost is £350 plus VAT. The outlays will include:
Court fees: These increase annually. The current fee is £137.00
Service fees: Service by sheriff officer, where service by recorded delivery has not been possible. The current fee is £13 plus the sheriff officer’s fee (usually about £100).
In cases where you wish to petition the court in an uncontested divorce action involving children under 16, we can also offer a fixed fee. If you and your spouse have reached an agreement regarding finances and care arrangements for your children under the age of 16, then we can represent you in your divorce proceedings in the Sheriff Court using our fixed fee service, which is charged at between £750 plus VAT and £900 plus VAT (dependent on the grounds of divorce), which includes the fee for the initial consultation. The outlays will include:
Court fees: These increase annually. The current fees are £223.00
Service fees: Service by sheriff officer, where service by recorded delivery has not been possible. The current fee is variable but is usually about £120.
Non-Fixed Fee Charges
Where we are unable to offer a Fixed Fee, the work undertaken will be charged by reference to an hourly rate. Our hourly rates are revised on 1st May each year, with Susan’s current hourly rate being £280.00 per hour plus VAT (currently 20%) broken down into £28.00 per 6-minute units or part thereof. Sally’s hourly rate is £275.00 per hour plus VAT (currently 20%) broken down into £27.50 per 6-minute units or part thereof. Additionally a charge of 5% of the total assessed fee, plus VAT, will be charged to cover posts and incidents.
Telephone calls will be charged at £28.00 and £27.50 per 6-minute unit or part thereof, respectively.
Letters will be charged at 1.25 units per page of 100 words or part thereof.
The drafting of Deeds and Court documents will be charged at 5 units per sheet of 200 words or part thereof.
Copying will be charged at £1.00 per page for the first copy of any document and 40p per page for each subsequent copy.
I would like to put on record my gratitude for your personal skill and determination to achieve this result for us…. We depended greatly on your advice, your advocacy and the efficiency of your firm. Throughout you have helped to reinforce the principles of fairness, efficacy and trust. Very many thanks.
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