Personal: Our fees

At Davies and Partners we believe that we should give clear costs estimates in writing before undertaking the work. It is important to know what you are getting for your money. We keep our costs estimates under regular review and always confirm any change in writing.

It is common to the whole profession that solicitors charge an hourly rate for dealing with family and matrimonial matters. The rates at Davies and Partners vary according to the experience and seniority of the person dealing with your case. Please contact us for up to date details of our competitive rates.

Although you are charged at an hourly rate we can give a reasonably accurate estimate for dealing with a divorce which is undefended and proceeds on a straight forward basis. We estimate that our fees for dealing for such a case is in the region of £800 - £1,000 plus VAT. If there are particular difficulties in your case such as your ex partner cannot be found this will add to the cost. In addition there are Court fees to pay totalling £385 and you may have to pay a fee for swearing an oath (typically £7).

We expect to receive from you an initial payment of between £200 and £500 depending on your circumstances and we will then send to you a bill every month or two so that you are kept up to date with the cost position. When we send a bill to you it is clearly itemised so you can see exactly what work has been carried out on your matter and we send a billing guide which explains it to you. We require that your bill be paid within 30 days.

As to other types of proceedings such as financial issues or children issues, we need to know more about your case in order to assess the work involved. Therefore we are pleased to offer potential new clients an initial free consultation so that we can make an assessment of your case and advise you concerning costs. The consultation is absolutely free and is available at each of our offices in Bristol, Gloucester and Birmingham. You need to make an appointment for your free consultation.

In dealing with a divorce financial settlement we may advise you to obtain reports or opinions from external sources. For instance we may advise that a business should be valued or there should be a property valuation. In these cases we advise you on selecting an expert and advise you in advance of the likely charges before you agree to incur the fee.

At Davies and Partners we work hard to ensure you understand what you are being charged for.

If you wish to have an informal discussion by telephone, rather than making an appointment, you can do so by contacting one of our family experts. Hopefully they will be able to discuss matters there and then, but if not we will arrange a mutually convenient time.

Davies and Partners do not undertake legal aid work. If you wish to check whether you are eligible for legal aid you can do so by contacting the Legal Services Commission (see below).

If you are involved in a case in which you are seeking to recover or preserve property or money the Legal Services Commission are entitled to deduct from any money or property which you recover the amount which they are out of pocket at the end of the case. This is called the statutory charge. However, it is fair to say that the rates charged by lawyers carrying out legal aid work is much lower than private rates because it is fixed by the government. Further information can be found on the Legal Services Commission website www.legalservices.gov.uk .

If you wish to discuss matters with one of our team concerning your situation please do not hesitate to contact us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone us. Click here for our contact details.